Race video 'just play-acting'
2008-02-27 23:02
Bloemfontein - The controversial video that hit the campus of the University of the Free State (UFS) this week like a racist bombshell was "no more than play-acting", according to a lawyer's letter delivered to the rector's office on Wednesday afternoon.
The surfacing of the video led to a protest march and police action on Wednesday.
Two students of the Reitz men's hostel, who have been suspended from campus pending possible disciplinary action, deny in the letter that they committed any actions that make them criminally liable.
Nico Naudé of Honey attorneys said in the letter that if the students were to be prosecuted, they would consider countering with charges of wilful prosecution.
In the lawyer's letter, RC Malherbe and Schalk van der Merwe denied they were guilty of either criminal actions or deeds.
Should any scene or scenes create such an impression, said Naudé, he wished to make it clear that the video was mere play-acting.
Wants list of allegations
In the letter, addressed to the executive council of the university and its dean of student affairs, he also informed UFS that he and the rest of the students' legal team, including a senior advocate, also wished to be present at any disciplinary hearing or any other action planned against the two.
He also asked that a list of allegations against the students be provided to him as soon as possible.
The students indicated earlier that they wanted legal representation at a disciplinary hearing, but apparently this was refused by the university.
The two hostel students, both in their final year, have been barred from the campus and consequently forfeit their student fees and the opportunity to study, because they are not allowed to attend classes.
The two students and two former ones at the hostel can easily be recognised on the video in which one male and four female staff are "initiated" into the residence.
The staffers are seen drinking with the students, among other things.
Volksblad newspaper heard that the video, which was an attempt to produce a Leon Schuster-type movie, had been made in September last year. It was apparently intended for a "cultural evening" at the hostel.
A political football
At the time, the UFS integration policy featured prominently in the media.
Former UFS students told the newspaper it appeared that the video had become a political football.
Others felt it strange that the video should surface at this stage, almost as if it was intended to distract attention from the R3m damage caused last week at the campus by students.