Does Stellenbosch University now have a urination culture?

After three urination incidents at three (male) residence spaces in the past few months, one can only wonder if this has become culture at Stellenbosch University (SU).

The other day I was attending a ceremony where the HOD of the Western Cape department of culture, arts and sport said we should never disassociate ourselves from the injustices faced by those we serve.

With that in mind, it leaves us with serious questions that deserve honest answers: is the institution serious about transforming these residences into more inclusive living spaces? Are they willing to fight back against the injustices students of colour face there?

Theuns du Toit set the precedent a few months ago when he urinated on fellow Matie Babalo Ndwayana’s belongings. He has since been expelled from the university, but one would think it would stop there.

No. The stinking pee culture continues, and when one looks deeper at the cases, the details are quite similar: a drunk white student urinates on the belongings of a student of colour.

This cannot be acceptable. No person should experience such dehumanisation. No student should ever be waking up to a room stinking of pee. As if the Covid-19 pandemic, its consequences and academic stress are not enough, students now wonder: “Am I next?” “Am I in a safe space?” “Am I welcome here?”

But how can students reap the full benefits of education when they enter these spaces with fear?

Let’s address the issue of alcohol. Of course, that influence is at play, and the institution will have to combat alcohol abuse on its premises. For far too long drinking culture was allowed to flourished at these male residences. But the drinking culture alone cannot be blamed for what we are seeing.

If it was indeed because of intoxication only, why is it that white students are peeing on the belongings of black students and black students only? Why are black students not urinating on the belongings of white students? Why are these incidents only happening at SU, when students at other universities also abuse alcohol?

Are these acts deliberate? I don’t know, and I won’t speculate. But it is perhaps critical for SU to look deeper and come up with practical prevention strategies.

The institution should thus look at the following if they are serious about transforming residential spaces:

1. Critically evaluate male residences, their history, toxic masculine cultures, militancy and unwelcoming practices.
2. Critically assess the role of the Centre of Student Communities in transforming the residential spaces.
3. Look at the possibility of scrapping residences that are sex-specific. There is no reason residences should be sex-exclusive.
4. Placement of students must be critical; there must be equal representation (and representation beyond race in this regard) in every university residence.
5. The leadership of university residences must be equal representation (and representation beyond race in this regard). This includes a look at the house committees and the residence heads.
6. The transformation office must play a more active role in university residences, with a specific mandate to ensure these spaces comply with equal representation as mentioned above, ensuring it’s a welcoming space for all who live in it and that residences meet transformation goals (these goals can vary depending on the current culture(s) in the spaces).
7. The institution must recognise that racism exists within its spaces and proactively address them.
8. The institution must revaluate what zero-tolerance, non-existent in practice at SU, really means. How is it that after the third incident, the institution has not yet realised there is a pee-pee problem that needs proactive measures and clear communication that SU won’t tolerate such behaviour?

We are now branded as the pee-pee university, and not the one where we wish to be: “Africa’s leading research-intensive university, globally-recognised as excellent, inclusive and innovative.”

Prospective students will not read this statement, they will read the headlines of yet another incident and decline the offer to study at SU. Current students are becoming ashamed to say they study at SU.

It does not help that we want to “move forward together” when many of these male residences are still stuck in the past.

My hope is that the institution will be more serious about this and act on recommendations before it is too late.

William Sezoe is the vice-chairperson of the Stellenbosch University (SU) SRC and DASO FedEX member but writes in his own personal capacity.