The Democratic Alliance (DA) welcomes the formal investigation launched by Stellenbosch University management into the incident at a student residence over the weekend, when a first-year student urinated on the property of a fellow first-year student.
The incident, captured on video, is humiliating, hurtful and infringed upon the constitutionally-enshrined right to dignity of the victim, Babalo Ndwayana, who has since come forward publicly.
We urge that the matter be handled with the requisite speed, diligence and seriousness demanded by the situation. We also encourage the university authorities to provide all necessary support to Mr Ndwayana to minimise the impact of this on his studies. He did not ask for this to happen, and he should not suffer adverse consequences.
As a member of Stellenbosch University council, I have already written to the registrar to request that this matter be urgently placed on the agenda for the upcoming council meeting, so that management can account for all remedial steps taken.