The South African Human Rights Commission’s Chris Nissen has condemned statements by Stellenbosch University’s Professor Jonathan Jansen where he likened students peeing on other’s possessions to dogs marking their territory.
Nissen confirmed to Weekend Argus that the the commission would be investigating the complaint levelled against Jansen by the civil rights organisation, Cape Forum.
The organisation complaint stems from an opinion piece published on a newssite titled - Why Stellies racists behave like animals: last kicks of a dying horse.
Jansen penned his opinion in the wake of the release of the Khampepe Commission report which probed allegations of racism at the university, emanating from the Theuns du Toit pee incident.
Du Toit was expelled after disciplinary proceedings found him guilty of urinating on top of the desk and laptop of Babalo Ndwayana at the Huis Marais student residence.
Two other incidents where students urinated on themselves or the belongings of their room mates occurred after Constitutional Court Justice Sisi Khampepe was appointed to lead the probe.
“The reason you have this latter-day racism at Stellenbosch University is because the university is changing, not because it is untransformed,” read the article.
“Ask yourself this, why would the Free State students and the now three incidents at Stellenbosch involve men and urine?
“Quite simple. Just like dogs use urine to mark their territory and anxiety, white male students use the same strategy to protest black incursion into their intimate spaces, such as residences,” it read.
The commission’s Chris Nissen said: “Comparing a human to any other species is a human rights violation.
“First of all, human beings are human beings and the basis of our rights falls on our dignity, so the other side must be given the right to defend themselves.
“You can never compare a human to anything else.”
While the investigation plays itself out, Nissen has urged that space be given for it to run its course.
He also asked that people steer away from degrading people’s dignity in any form.
“Let us not turn this into a race, cultural or linguistic thing.
“No-one should be stigmatised or labelled. We already grew up in a time where teachers would tell learners they are ‘dom’, this impacts their future, let us think of their dignity.
“While we are treating this as an allegation, we should also remember that something like this should never happen,” he said.
Jansen told Weekend Argus he was at peace with what he wrote.
“Both linguists and lawyers, including a senior judge consulted, say the complaint is ridiculous.
“No human-being is a dog and the article, using metaphorical language, does not say that,” he said.
The forum’s chairperson Heindrich Wyngaard said Jansen’s comparison of the ugly actions of white male students to that of dogs was uncalled for, inflammatory and insulting.
“History has taught us about the danger of labelling members of a certain community, ethnic or cultural group as some kind of animal or insect, be that Penny Sparrow calling black citizens ‘monkeys’ or a Rwandan politician referring to Tutsis as ‘cockroaches’ which contributed to the occurrence of genocide in 1994 in his country.
“We hereby request that the commission investigate this matter and take the necessary steps if they find, as we suggest, that the language used by Professor Jansen is inhumane, hateful, and hurtful,” he said.
Wyngaard in his statement said: “It makes no constructive contribution to uprooting racist actions from our democratic society, which should in all instances be condemned.”
This week the university said they noted the complaint laid with the SAHRC, adding that the institution would respond to any enquiries from the SAHRC if requested to do so.