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Decoding the young man, Theuns du Toit of Stellenbosch University: Victim or Villian

      The resurfacing of urine and urinating at yet another of the historically white, and exclusively Afrikaner University, is a coded message about the maturity of our social cohesion if any at all. Watching the video, listening to its content, searching for condemnation from civil society movements that have lately clamored for the moral leadership of South Africa, and experiencing the mixed feelings of urine and urination with the urinated and made to consume urine being BantuBlack evokes all sorts of emotions. The gut from which anger comes has since the breaking of news been negotiating with the logic of forgiveness for a generation whose whole life should only know non-racialism and equality of all, under any circumstances.

Theuns du Toit, an Afrikaner boy in his early twenties, admitted at what is arguably one of the bastions of Afrikaner and Afrikanses-led intellectual institutions, has once again brought the spotlight on the fallacy of outside household socialization and social cohesion. The engineered and ritualized non-racial society that South Africa, and on paper, has manufactured does not seem to be holding on to our actual reality. Theuns is a product of how he was socialized, he is a reflection of deeper issues that those assigned to conduct an investigation should also find ways of reporting about.

 It would be hollow to limit the investigation to Theuns alone. The institutional foundations that produced his person need to be interrogated. It would be important to know the high school he matriculated from, what is the general profile of the school, how integrated is that school including its staff complement, what is the general relations between the ground staff and learners, and what associations and social formations influence the teachers and parenting community. Theuns might be a creature of a religious community, he might have been in youth camps, he belongs to sororities that are historical, and he listens to the radio and has cultural role models we need to know about.

 Theuns went through an education system, he read prescribed books and material, and he took books out of a library society needs to know what is on those shelves. He has parents we need to know about, his parents have colleagues or sub-ordinates we need to interview and profile the environment within which his anchors are dependent, and his correctness has been affirmed by an immediate community we need to know about.

 Theuns has fears and hopes about his future. What are these fears, who confirmed these fears, and why are these fears stronger. A report that deals with the above require a cooperating Theuns and his network. Theuns should thus be made a case study out of which an abstraction of a possible reality could be constructed. Cues from Theuns' real situation should be modeled to commission a study to investigate how the socialization of children is supportive of a non-racial future. 

As I conclude let me posit an extract from an article in the blog post in 2018,

Nelson Mandela warns that “no one is born hating another person because of the color of his skin, or his background, or his religion. People… learn to hate, and if they can learn to hate, they can be taught to love, for love comes more naturally to the human heart than its opposite”.The power to teach is directly related to the power to curriculate, and the power to curriculate is an outcome of an institutionalized content and theorization, and theorization means availability of resources to write, print and distribute. Racism has a value chain, and these value chains are anchored on economic and ideational power. Racism is therefore not only a blight on the human conscience, but a disfigurement of any civilization.

Theuns is, therefore, and like many other kids or young adults like him, a victim of what he potentially grew up knowing it is not incorrect to do certain things to other humans, simply be he is what he said he is in the video. Theuns is a son of this country that cries for help, like many, to get out of bad parenting at dinner tables and exclusive socialization spaces other races are not or never invited.

Or maybe Theuns was too drunk to find a toilet, and if that is the case his drunkenness has unfortunately betrayed him because of the reason he gave why he saw that specific type of a urine disposal space...

The inverse of all that is above can be applicable to Nkateko or Sifiso somewhere at a dinner table or youth formation. Theuns is more of an opportunity for South Africa to be honest about how it shapes future generations. CUT!!

🤷🏿‍♂️A ndzo ti vulavulela makwerhu 

🤷🏿‍♂️Xihlahlau you learn

Comments

  1. AnonymousMay 17, 2022 at 9:07 PM

    Interesting analysis prof

    ReplyDelete
  2. Nomzamo PetjeMay 18, 2022 at 11:02 AM

    How would knowing his background etc., advance non racialism in Stellenbosch in particular and in SA broadly? Haven't we've been here before about that institution and as a country? Of course we have. I admire your magnanimity to focus on the perpetrator by asking those questions which I doubt we will ever get answers to than on the victim. Whilst we as a society continually deal with racism academically instead of being forthright and practical about uprooting it, many Babalos will continue to fall victim to these racists. Unfortunately he will live with this trauma which could last forever while Theuns finds a way to live beyond his evil actions and be successful in life, thanks to his white privilege background. Babalo Ndwanyana as you've righfuly pointed out in another platform that "he is going to be a victim of being a victim" later on because he darred to stand up against Theuns' racism. I hope SU will out of this racist incident which is happening for the umpteenth time, finally act decisively now and in future about how intolerable and illegal racism is in that institution. Meanwhile we should spare a thought for Babalo who's trauma due to this unfortunate experience will not be addressed nor be healed by a replacement of his damaged laptop and books.

    ReplyDelete

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