'Grow up, people': Fort Hare student's views on WhatsApp group deemed xenophobic

A student from the University of Fort Hare (UFH) in the Eastern Cape has called South Africans “stupid” and accused them of “blaming foreigners instead of sorting out their own problems”.

“If this mentality continues, they will colonise you guys again 😂😂 … Foreigners will lecture you, treat you [sic]. Grow up people.”

UFH is investigating these remarks, made on a final-year law students’ WhatsApp group.

University spokesperson Khotso Moabi said in a statement on Tuesday that the university became aware of the “inflammatory language promoting violence” on the “Fort Hare Jurists” WhatsApp group last Thursday.

TimesLIVE has seen screenshots of the WhatsApp group. Moabi confirmed these were the remarks UFH was investigating.

The student asks on the group: “So coping is a big deal but falling pregnant at 17 isn’t? A child with a child only in South Africa. We are here for your resources, we wipe accounts, take all the fee waiver and send to our families who ‘are starving at home’. We will use that money for Masters, PhD, while y’all are here as eighth-year senior law students. Only in South Africa do you have a family with seven different surnames in one shack.”

The student adds: “Guys, were you taught about sex before learning how to write your names? Is there a baby making scheme somewhere? Xhosa people are not taken seriously throughout South Africa because of this.”