"No whites" – Stellenbosch University in advertisement for internships

Image: FF Plus

The Department of Agronomy in Stellenbosch University’s Faculty of AgriSciences is currently advertising two internships for junior research assistants. The advertisement states, among other things, that only Black / Coloured / Indian / Chinese South African citizens with a South African identity document will be considered for the positions. 

In practice, this means any South African citizen, provided they are not white.

The Freedom Front Plus (VF Plus) received a screenshot of this advertisement and first sought to confirm its authenticity. An email was sent to Prof. Pieter Swanepoel, the Head of Department to whom applications should be submitted by 1 December, according to the advertisement.    

An automated reply stated that he is out of office and referred enquiries to a colleague. The colleague in question requested a copy of the advertisement, but has not been in contact since. In the meantime, the same advertisement was found posted on various social media platforms and can, therefore, be regarded as genuine.

The advertisement amounts to direct discrimination, omitting the usual phrasing “preference will be given to previously disadvantaged candidates” – or something similar.

It means that should no Black, Coloured, Indian or Chinese South Africans apply, the posts will remain vacant.

This is an excellent example of the ideology of transformationism. According to this ideology, every institution has to reflect the demographics of the country at large. The reality that some white students grow up in poverty while there are Black, Coloured, Indian and Chinese students who enjoy every possible privilege and opportunity is completely disregarded.

The Freedom Front Plus will keep trying to engage with the University about the matter. In the past, Stellenbosch University was rapped over the knuckles by the South African Human Rights Commission (HRC), following a complaint lodged by the Freedom Front Plus for discriminatory conduct towards Afrikaans students.

More recently, the University was given a bloody nose in court for rushing into making an unsubstantiated finding – that the student’s actions were racially motivated – in a urination incident. The party is currently considering the most appropriate course of action in regard to this case.  

In the meantime, the Freedom Front Plus wholeheartedly supports private university Akademia’s project to establish a faculty of agriculture. Advertisements such as this one demonstrate why it is necessary.