[imagesource: Twitter / BBC]

Theuns du Toit, perhaps better known as the urinating Stellenbosch University student, has been suspended after a video showed him peeing on the desk and belongings of Agricultural Business Management student, Babalo Ndwayana.

In the days and weeks after that video went viral, du Toit’s friends and family went to great lengths to explain that he wasn’t racist and that this was an isolated, out of character incident.

Cue stories about his best friend from Worcester Gymnasium High School being black, and his uncle stating that “Theuns is not a racist, his parents did not raise him like that”.

A picture of his brother which has come to light this week won’t do Theuns’ case any favours. IOL reports:

…a picture [has] emerged of his brother brandishing the banned old South African flag…

Image: IOL

In the picture, Pierre is seen with three others holding the flag and grinning widely. A relative told Weekend Argus the picture was taken in December.

It’s been pointed out many times already that one son brandishing the old South African flag with a big grin on his face, and the other urinating on the belongings of a black student, goes a long way to undermining claims that their “parents did not raise [them] like that”.

In 2019, the Equality Court ruled that the gratuitous display of the old flag, in private and public spaces, was a form of hate speech. The old flag could only be displayed for “genuine artistic, academic or journalistic expression in the public interest”.

The court found that the constitutional right to freedom of expression “does not extend to” advocacy of hatred based on race. Because the display of the old flag amounts to hate speech, it is not constitutionally protected speech.

When IOL reached out to Pierre for comment, he blocked the reporter on WhatsApp and declined calls. His father also refused to comment.

Meanwhile, back at Stellenbosch University, retired Constitutional Court Justice Sisi Khampepe has been appointed to lead an independent commission of inquiry into allegations of racism at the institution.

EWN below:

The university said that Khampepe [below] would make recommendations to the rector to assist the institution in improving its culture of diversity and inclusion which would safeguard and promote the dignity and self-worth of all students and staff.

The university said that the inquiry would be conducted by means of closed proceedings to provide confidence in the process and to enable candid participation on a broad basis.

Image: GCIS

The identity, other personal information and evidence of witnesses are to be kept confidential.

The commission is likely to commence somewhere around the middle of June.

Once the commission has finalised its report, it will be submitted to the rector and vice-chancellor, Professor Wim de Villiers.

[sources:iol&ewn]