Expelled Rhodes student Yolanda Dyantyi granted leave to appeal

Expelled Rhodes University student Yolanda Dyantyi has been granted leave to appeal a high court judgment refusing to set aside the disciplinary conviction that led to her expulsion.

Dyantyi was rusticated in 2017 after being found guilty in a disciplinary hearing of kidnapping, assault, insubordination and defamation during the so-called "Rhodes Reference List" anti-rape protests in 2016.

She failed in her Grahamstown high court to have both her disciplinary conviction and permanent exclusion from the university set aside.

Judge Zamani Nhlangulela on Thursday granted her leave to appeal this judgment.

A jubilant Dyantyi expressed delight on social media.

“We are going to the Supreme Court of Appeal. Bloemfontein here we come! Thank you to everyone who has supported and held me,” she said.

The EFF last week rallied behind Dyantyi, warning that the “anger and anguish” of the nation would be unleashed on the university.

Dyantyi’s disciplinary hearing followed months of protest at the university, when a list was compiled with the names of Rhodes students who had allegedly sexually assaulted women.

The #RhodesReferenceList was shared widely on social media.

According to court papers, some of the men named on the list were hounded out of their residences by groups of students led by, amongst others, Dyantyi, while some were assaulted, spat on, threatened with necklacing and held against their will.

DispatchLIVE