Fingers pointing, but what about?

Quotes from a media release by Edwin Cameron, retired Constitutional Court justice, chancellor of Stellenbosch University and former Wilgenhof resident:

“There can be no place at Stellenbosch University for any practice or behaviour that belittles, degrades or exerts undue power over anyone."

“I am also distressed by suggestions that humiliating disciplinary processes were enforced. In both cases, to my knowledge, the university had already taken steps to stop these. I strongly affirm Stellenbosch University's response to the revelations about Wilgenhof's history and past disciplinary processes."

*

Comment under a pseudonym at the end of a news story about the case:

“Wow, how soft has everyone become? While I fully agree that no sexual comments or activities should take place and discrimination should be left alone, initiation is part of the culture of an institution and should be carried out within reason. We all went through it and hated it at the time, but it is still part of my memory in a positive way 50 years later, and I was far better off being trimmed back a bit at the time."

Prof Pierre de Vos, constitutional expert and short-lived Wilgenhof resident, on his blog:

“To understand why institutions like Wilgenhof have been so resistant to, and so successful at resisting, change, and why an eminent jurist like Justice Cameron would favour retention of some of the potentially harmful, alienating and (inevitably) exclusionary practices rooted in its extended (and for some current and old Wilgenhoffers, illustrious) history, one has to understand that some opposition to change is rooted in a belief that Stellenbosch University in general, and Wilgenhof in particular, belongs to white Afrikaners, or — at the very least — should provide a space where the culture and traditions rooted in Afrikaner culture can be upheld, and such Afrikaners can feel they truly belong — as if nothing had changed.

“For this group, the end of formal apartheid, the loss of Afrikaner political power and the resultant decentring of Afrikaner culture is experienced as a profound and unbearable loss. Instead of embracing these changes and seeing this as an exciting and beneficial opportunity to forge a newly invigorated, outward-looking identity as part of a larger South African identity, resisters cling to a version of their old exclusionary identity, one that is defined in opposition to a larger South African identity."

*

Piet Croucamp, Vrye Weekblad contributing editor:

“We can blame the residents and student leaders of Wilgenhof for their prehistoric misconceptions about the value of traditions at this men's residence or the university for its inability to eradicate the romanticising of mindless intimidation, humiliation and superficialisation.

“Of course, we can also ask, what did the residence head of Wilgenhof (since 2019), Spurgeon-Haddon Wilson, do to make the residence a better place than he found it? It is hard to imagine that the agendas of the residence father and those of university management do not match when it comes to social practices and rituals in student residences. Yet an aggrieved student's complaint set the disclosure process in motion, not the dorm master's sense of responsible management.

“Wilson, who retired as residence father of Wilgenhof at the end of 2023, was at that time also the programme manager at the Frederik van Zyl Slabbert Institute for Student Leadership Development, within the Centre for Student Leadership, Experiential Education and Citizenship  in the Division for Student Affairs. He completed his bachelor's degree (LLB) at Stellenbosch University in 2010 and a certificate in practical legal training (2014) at the University of Cape Town. He also did a short development of leadership and team skills course at the Stellenbosch University Department of Business Management (2019).

“Indeed, an outstanding theoretical reputation, ideal for the tremendous responsibilities of making the codified manifesto of Wilgenhof a reality. This reads as follows: ‘A modern and inclusive residence founded on respect, individuality, sense of community and critical thinking, informed by the pursuit of excellence. A place of belonging, proud of our heritage but inspired by progress, where everyone is free to be themselves and where diversity of thought is championed.'

“Under Wilson's guidance, as with previous heads of residence, the Nagligte did what the Nagligte did. We can blame the students or hold management responsible. I'm not holding my breath."

*

Comment on a university hostel WhatsApp group:

“Where are all the woke treehuggers when a bunch of young black kids are dying in initiation schools from drinking diesel, circumcision infection and thirst? Anything white and Afrikaans is such a nice target."

*

Charl Adams, VWB reader:

“Is something inherent in traditionally Afrikaans universities that encourages students to commit these atrocities? Already during my time on campus in the early Seventies, some students went beyond themselves with unauthorised behavior and abuse, which in a few cases had serious consequences. Over the years, this phenomenon has been frequently written about, and the Slabbert Commission reported on it in the early 2000s. In 2014, the ‘Enquiry into Unacceptable Welcoming Practices' saw the light. Both reports pointed to an apparent hierarchical dynamic that comes into play when exploiting others' rights. In other words, the reports suggested abuses and the use of unauthorised practices by seniors against juniors.

“Where does this malpractice originate? I believe that unauthorised initiation practices have their origins in the family structure and traditions of Afrikaner families in particular. Traditionally, Afrikaner families are more set on a hierarchy, especially the father figure at the top of the pyramid, with his wife subordinate to his sons and girls subordinate to his sons. This ranking is reflected in the Reformed traditions and is still maintained by many conservative Afrikaners.

“It follows that a male child is already socialised from the start to follow in his father's footsteps and feels entitled to take the lead no matter what. This aberration of a theological sublimity, as preached by the Sister Churches, still finds fertile breeding ground in rural communities and elsewhere. Linked to this is the cultural-historical sublimity of Afrikanerdom and the political abuse over decades of being Afrikaner and Afrikaans.

“This hegemony was embodied in various cultural organisations (the Broederbond, ATKV, FAK, Voortrekkers, Rapportryers, the Susterkerke, and so on), dominated by men elevated to the paterfamilias over decades. Their arrogance leads to various abuses, with Afrikaner men often oppressing and exploiting their wives emotionally as well as physically. My conclusion is that the proverbial apple doesn't fall far from the tree here. This is how the tradition of initiation is passed from father to child, and Junior repeats what Dad told him at home about his student years.

“Of course, everything in a less serious tone, but anchored in the presupposition that ‘Boetman can do what Dad did'. In the same way, other prejudices, such as racism and sexism, are passed on to the next generation. It follows that many young Afrikaner male students consider it their right to perpetuate this hierarchical view of life during their stay on campus. I await with great interest the administration's report on this latest episode at Wilgenhof."

*

Comment at the end of a news story:

“I was also one of those boys. I was labelled a ‘soutie' because I came from Sea Point and I was mercilessly humiliated by brandy-and-coke-swilling wannabe ‘manne'. It wasn’t great for all of us."

*

Comment at the end of a news story:

“Having been brought up in a good family and then going to an all-boys boarding school in the middle of the bush, I can tell you that violence is used to ‘keep the code of silence'. Many young men look forward to abusing others since it was done to them. This is all in the name of ‘discipline', of course. Let me tell you: it takes a lot of guts to stand against such a system when you are away from your support structure. Lord of the Flies is my experience of what young men will do if left alone in a frat house unless actively guided otherwise."

*

Willem Kempen, Vrye Weekblad editorial staffer:

One of the oldest traditions at Stellenbosch University is the annual debate on initiation rituals, also called doop, welcoming, hazing or whatever. Every year, like clockwork, there are the predictable But-what-abouts, the Why-don't-you-say-something-abouts and the variations on ooms who say, “It was hard, but it made me a better person."

Well, Uncle, I'm willing to bet money that even you will be shocked by some of the things that happened in the name of doop by the time your kids got to varsity.

You were “naughty too, but never ugly naughty". I'm afraid, Oom, that “ugly naughty" has become less exceptional since then. You were “sometimes loud too" but how often did it happen back then that a senior forced a drink down a freshman's throat until he vomited or ended up in the hospital with alcohol poisoning? Ask the casualty units of the hospitals in Stellenbosch or Potchefstroom what they think of “student fun".

And yet, most of what was found in Wilgenhof's “secret rooms" seems closer to childish and student-like than to evil or psychopathic. It is exaggerated to speak of black masks as “executioner-like" or to or to jump from figures that may refer to Hitler's initials to a “white supremacist culture". The fascination with fascist symbolism and uniforms and secret codes seems to me infantile, insensitive and uninformed rather than speaking of hatred and prejudice.

I simply do not believe that such a “horror culture" could produce people of the calibre of Van Zyl Slabbert or Edwin Cameron. The few ex-Wilgenhoffers I know are, without exception, people of integrity with a healthy, critical outlook on life.

However, I can also reasonably believe that the atmosphere of secrecy, the preoccupation with hierarchical battle orders and the complacent nurturing of exclusive networks can easily lead to precisely the kind of culture that, for example, made it possible for Markus Jooste to make and break at Steinhoff for years as he felt like it. How many middle managers who cheered for Jooste come from a Stellenbosch dormitory culture? Maybe even specifically from Wilgenhof? How many of Steinhoff's shareholders never saw that “one of us" was screwing them over? (And by the way, wouldn't it be interesting to know how many Wilgenhof oumanne counted among Steinhoff's most significant shareholders?)

The biggest disappointment of the whole saga is that the conversation is still about the extent to which Stellenbosch University does not exclude, instead of the extent to which the university does include and opens its arms to make more people feel they belong there. We're still talking about what existing students must endure to “make it" instead of what we can do to attract and help more deserving prospective students make the most of it.

Wouldn't it be great if places like Wilgenhof could help first-years with things like how to survive on a National Student Financial Aid Scheme grant instead of determining who can spend their parents' money the fastest?

Comment under a pseudonym at the end of a news story about the case:

“Wow, how soft has everyone become? While I fully agree that no sexual comments or activities should take place and discrimination should be left alone, initiation is part of the culture of an institution and should be carried out within reason. We all went through it and hated it at the time, but it is still part of my memory in a positive way 50 years later, and I was far better off being trimmed back a bit at the time."

*

Prof Pierre de Vos, constitutional expert and short-lived Wilgenhof resident, on his blog:

“To understand why institutions like Wilgenhof have been so resistant to, and so successful at resisting, change, and why an eminent jurist like Justice Cameron would favour retention of some of the potentially harmful, alienating and (inevitably) exclusionary practices rooted in its extended (and for some current and old Wilgenhoffers, illustrious) history, one has to understand that some opposition to change is rooted in a belief that Stellenbosch University in general, and Wilgenhof in particular, belongs to white Afrikaners, or — at the very least — should provide a space where the culture and traditions rooted in Afrikaner culture can be upheld, and such Afrikaners can feel they truly belong — as if nothing had changed.

“For this group, the end of formal apartheid, the loss of Afrikaner political power and the resultant decentring of Afrikaner culture is experienced as a profound and unbearable loss. Instead of embracing these changes and seeing this as an exciting and beneficial opportunity to forge a newly invigorated, outward-looking identity as part of a larger South African identity, resisters cling to a version of their old exclusionary identity, one that is defined in opposition to a larger South African identity."

*

Piet Croucamp, Vrye Weekblad contributing editor:

“We can blame the residents and student leaders of Wilgenhof for their prehistoric misconceptions about the value of traditions at this men's residence or the university for its inability to eradicate the romanticising of mindless intimidation, humiliation and superficialisation.

“Of course, we can also ask, what did the residence head of Wilgenhof (since 2019), Spurgeon-Haddon Wilson, do to make the residence a better place than he found it? It is hard to imagine that the agendas of the residence father and those of university management do not match when it comes to social practices and rituals in student residences. Yet an aggrieved student's complaint set the disclosure process in motion, not the dorm master's sense of responsible management.

“Wilson, who retired as residence father of Wilgenhof at the end of 2023, was at that time also the programme manager at the Frederik van Zyl Slabbert Institute for Student Leadership Development, within the Centre for Student Leadership, Experiential Education and Citizenship  in the Division for Student Affairs. He completed his bachelor's degree (LLB) at Stellenbosch University in 2010 and a certificate in practical legal training (2014) at the University of Cape Town. He also did a short development of leadership and team skills course at the Stellenbosch University Department of Business Management (2019).

“Indeed, an outstanding theoretical reputation, ideal for the tremendous responsibilities of making the codified manifesto of Wilgenhof a reality. This reads as follows: ‘A modern and inclusive residence founded on respect, individuality, sense of community and critical thinking, informed by the pursuit of excellence. A place of belonging, proud of our heritage but inspired by progress, where everyone is free to be themselves and where diversity of thought is championed.'

“Under Wilson's guidance, as with previous heads of residence, the Nagligte did what the Nagligte did. We can blame the students or hold management responsible. I'm not holding my breath."

*

Comment on a university hostel WhatsApp group:

“Where are all the woke treehuggers when a bunch of young black kids are dying in initiation schools from drinking diesel, circumcision infection and thirst? Anything white and Afrikaans is such a nice target."

*

Charl Adams, VWB reader:

“Is something inherent in traditionally Afrikaans universities that encourages students to commit these atrocities? Already during my time on campus in the early Seventies, some students went beyond themselves with unauthorised behavior and abuse, which in a few cases had serious consequences. Over the years, this phenomenon has been frequently written about, and the Slabbert Commission reported on it in the early 2000s. In 2014, the ‘Enquiry into Unacceptable Welcoming Practices' saw the light. Both reports pointed to an apparent hierarchical dynamic that comes into play when exploiting others' rights. In other words, the reports suggested abuses and the use of unauthorised practices by seniors against juniors.

“Where does this malpractice originate? I believe that unauthorised initiation practices have their origins in the family structure and traditions of Afrikaner families in particular. Traditionally, Afrikaner families are more set on a hierarchy, especially the father figure at the top of the pyramid, with his wife subordinate to his sons and girls subordinate to his sons. This ranking is reflected in the Reformed traditions and is still maintained by many conservative Afrikaners.

“It follows that a male child is already socialised from the start to follow in his father's footsteps and feels entitled to take the lead no matter what. This aberration of a theological sublimity, as preached by the Sister Churches, still finds fertile breeding ground in rural communities and elsewhere. Linked to this is the cultural-historical sublimity of Afrikanerdom and the political abuse over decades of being Afrikaner and Afrikaans.

“This hegemony was embodied in various cultural organisations (the Broederbond, ATKV, FAK, Voortrekkers, Rapportryers, the Susterkerke, and so on), dominated by men elevated to the paterfamilias over decades. Their arrogance leads to various abuses, with Afrikaner men often oppressing and exploiting their wives emotionally as well as physically. My conclusion is that the proverbial apple doesn't fall far from the tree here. This is how the tradition of initiation is passed from father to child, and Junior repeats what Dad told him at home about his student years.

“Of course, everything in a less serious tone, but anchored in the presupposition that ‘Boetman can do what Dad did'. In the same way, other prejudices, such as racism and sexism, are passed on to the next generation. It follows that many young Afrikaner male students consider it their right to perpetuate this hierarchical view of life during their stay on campus. I await with great interest the administration's report on this latest episode at Wilgenhof."

*

Comment at the end of a news story:

“I was also one of those boys. I was labelled a ‘soutie' because I came from Sea Point and I was mercilessly humiliated by brandy-and-coke-swilling wannabe ‘manne'. It wasn’t great for all of us."

*

Comment at the end of a news story:

“Having been brought up in a good family and then going to an all-boys boarding school in the middle of the bush, I can tell you that violence is used to ‘keep the code of silence'. Many young men look forward to abusing others since it was done to them. This is all in the name of ‘discipline', of course. Let me tell you: it takes a lot of guts to stand against such a system when you are away from your support structure. Lord of the Flies is my experience of what young men will do if left alone in a frat house unless actively guided otherwise."

*

Willem Kempen, Vrye Weekblad editorial staffer:

One of the oldest traditions at Stellenbosch University is the annual debate on initiation rituals, also called doop, welcoming, hazing or whatever. Every year, like clockwork, there are the predictable But-what-abouts, the Why-don't-you-say-something-abouts and the variations on ooms who say, “It was hard, but it made me a better person."

Well, Uncle, I'm willing to bet money that even you will be shocked by some of the things that happened in the name of doop by the time your kids got to varsity.

You were “naughty too, but never ugly naughty". I'm afraid, Oom, that “ugly naughty" has become less exceptional since then. You were “sometimes loud too" but how often did it happen back then that a senior forced a drink down a freshman's throat until he vomited or ended up in the hospital with alcohol poisoning? Ask the casualty units of the hospitals in Stellenbosch or Potchefstroom what they think of “student fun".

And yet, most of what was found in Wilgenhof's “secret rooms" seems closer to childish and student-like than to evil or psychopathic. It is exaggerated to speak of black masks as “executioner-like" or to or to jump from figures that may refer to Hitler's initials to a “white supremacist culture". The fascination with fascist symbolism and uniforms and secret codes seems to me infantile, insensitive and uninformed rather than speaking of hatred and prejudice.

I simply do not believe that such a “horror culture" could produce people of the calibre of Van Zyl Slabbert or Edwin Cameron. The few ex-Wilgenhoffers I know are, without exception, people of integrity with a healthy, critical outlook on life.

However, I can also reasonably believe that the atmosphere of secrecy, the preoccupation with hierarchical battle orders and the complacent nurturing of exclusive networks can easily lead to precisely the kind of culture that, for example, made it possible for Markus Jooste to make and break at Steinhoff for years as he felt like it. How many middle managers who cheered for Jooste come from a Stellenbosch dormitory culture? Maybe even specifically from Wilgenhof? How many of Steinhoff's shareholders never saw that “one of us" was screwing them over? (And by the way, wouldn't it be interesting to know how many Wilgenhof oumanne counted among Steinhoff's most significant shareholders?)

The biggest disappointment of the whole saga is that the conversation is still about the extent to which Stellenbosch University does not exclude, instead of the extent to which the university does include and opens its arms to make more people feel they belong there. We're still talking about what existing students must endure to “make it" instead of what we can do to attract and help more deserving prospective students make the most of it.

Wouldn't it be great if places like Wilgenhof could help first-years with things like how to survive on a National Student Financial Aid Scheme grant instead of determining who can spend their parents' money the fastest?

♦ VWB ♦

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