IFP MEDIA STATEMENT BY:
MS PATRICIA LEBENYA MP
ACTING NATIONAL CHAIR OF IFP YOUTH BRIGADE

27 February 2008 

The Inkatha Freedom Party Youth Brigade would like to condemn, in the strongest terms, a shocking and inhuman video that has emerged from the University of the Free State.

The video, made by the Reitz men's residence, shows staff of the University on their knees eating food which had been urinated on by students.

"The preamble of the Constitution calls on all of us to heal the divisions of the past and to establish a society based on democratic values, social justice and fundamental human rights," said Ms Lebenya.

She continued: "The students involved in this video dishonoured all of the constitutional directives above and their acts are a gross violation of the human rights of the workers involved.

"The IFPYB would like to call on the Human Rights Commission to investigate this case as a matter of urgency. It is clear that racism is rife at the University of the Free State.

"Furthermore, the IFPYB would like to congratulate the Human Rights Commission for acting speedily in another race clash that unfolded last week.

"We applaud the Human Rights Commission for announcing that they will be facilitating public hearings following Friday's exclusion of white journalists from a meeting organised by the blacks-only Forum of Black Journalists (FBJ).

"Both incidents have now stirred massive controversy in South Africa, with many drawing comparisons with the racist policies of the apartheid system.

"The IFPYB would like to reiterate that these two incidents have no place in a democratic South Africa and that incidents like these will do nothing to improve race relations in our country. What is even more disheartening is that it seems that racial goodwill and respect for individual rights is still lacking thirteen years since the dawn of democracy," concluded Ms Lebenya.
 

For more information: 
Ms Pat Lebenya MP: 078 186 3619
Liezl van der Merwe: 083 611 7470