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<header><h1>Racist hostels in Pretoria shamed</h1><p class="gmail-meta"><a href="https://www.iol.co.za/news/south-africa/gauteng">Gauteng</a><span> / </span><span>8 February 2018, 06:45am</span><span> / </span><span><strong>Sakhile Ndlazi</strong></span></p><div><div class="gmail-social-icons"><ul><li><a rel="nofollow" target="_blank" href="https://facebook.com/sharer/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.iol.co.za%2Fnews%2Fsouth-africa%2Fgauteng%2Fracist-hostels-in-pretoria-shamed-13166137" title="Share on Facebook"><img src="https://www.iol.co.za/assets/images/social-icons/facebook-rnd-ico.svg" alt="Share on Facebook" id="gmail-article-facebook-share"></a></li><li><a rel="nofollow" target="_blank" href="https://twitter.com/intent/tweet?via=IOL&text=Racist%20hostels%20in%20Pretoria%20shamed&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.iol.co.za%2Fnews%2Fsouth-africa%2Fgauteng%2Fracist-hostels-in-pretoria-shamed-13166137" title="Share on Twitter"><img src="https://www.iol.co.za/assets/images/social-icons/twitter-rnd-ico.svg" alt="Share on Twitter" id="gmail-article-twitter-share"></a></li><li><a rel="nofollow" target="_blank" href="https://www.linkedin.com/shareArticle?mini=true&title=Racist%20hostels%20in%20Pretoria%20shamed&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.iol.co.za%2Fnews%2Fsouth-africa%2Fgauteng%2Fracist-hostels-in-pretoria-shamed-13166137" title="Share on LinkedIn"><img src="https://www.iol.co.za/assets/images/social-icons/linkedin-rnd-ico.svg" alt="Share on LinkedIn" id="gmail-article-linkedin-share"></a></li><li><a rel="nofollow" target="_blank" href="https://www.iol.co.za/news/south-africa/gauteng/racist-hostels-in-pretoria-shamed-13166137#email-share" class="gmail-show-popup" title="Share via Email"><img src="https://www.iol.co.za/assets/images/social-icons/email-rnd-ico.svg" alt="Tell a Friend" id="gmail-article-email-share"></a></li></ul></div></div></header><div class="gmail-article-body"><figure><div class="gmail-sixteen-nine"><img class="gmail-imgLandScape" src="https://image.iol.co.za/image/1/process/620x349?source=https://inm-baobab-prod-eu-west-1.s3.amazonaws.com/public/inm/media/2018/02/08/iol/216/pn-res2.jpg&operation=CROP&offset=0x163&resize=2362x1322" alt="" title="The Sonop residence in Brooklyn has been banned from taking part in University of Pretoria events because it is "too white". Picture: Supplied"></div><figcaption><span class="gmail-imageCaption">The
Sonop residence in Brooklyn has been banned from taking part in
University of Pretoria events because it is "too white". Picture:
Supplied</span></figcaption></figure><div class="gmail-articleBodyMore" id="gmail-article-more-body">Pretoria
- Two white-only student residences in the city have been dealt a blow
for not transforming - with one of them banned from taking part in any
of the University of Pretoria’s traditional competitions this year.
<p>UP has had a long-standing relationship with Sonop
residence, a privately-owned student housing complex which houses
students of the university.</p>
<p>The university has banned the residence from participating
in most of its activities because of insufficient transformation. Events
include 1nSync and the Rag.</p>
<p>The prohibition was imposed by the university’s management and the SRC.</p>
<p>University spokesperson Rikus Delport said in recent years
there had been challenges with regard to the transformation requirements
set by the university for privately-owned student housing
establishments.</p>
<p><b><font size="4">Read: <a href="https://www.iol.co.za/news/south-africa/gauteng/outcry-at-up-housing-plan-1723024">Outcry at UP housing plan</a></font></b></p>
<p><b><font size="4"> </font></b><b><font size="4"><a href="https://www.iol.co.za/news/south-africa/gauteng/afrikaans-only-hostel-rumpus-8339669">Afrikaans-only hostel rumpus</a></font></b></p>
<p>“The university is sympathetic to the challenges facing
Sonop in this regard, particularly given the high cost of operating
student housing without any form of subsidisation,” he said.</p>
<p>He said university management had been involved in processes
to arrive at a new memorandum of understanding with Sonop. Discussions,
he said, were ongoing.</p>
<p>SRC president Kwena Moloto said the banning was not a new phenomenon and had been done before.</p>
<p>Last year, the predominantly white privately-owned residence
in Sunnyside, De Goede Hoop, was also banned from participating in
varsity events.</p>
<p>Moloto said the university had a transformation quota which the residence didn't meet.</p>
<p>“To my knowledge, a third of the residence should house black people, in accordance with the quota,” he said.</p>
<p>Out of the 160 residents at Sonop, only six were black.</p>
<p>Moloto also dismissed claims that the decision to ban Sonop
residence was solely taken by the DA-led SRC. He said different
stakeholders, including the SRC, the department of student affairs and
various other players, came to this conclusion.</p>
<p>Willie Spies, an old Sonopper and a lawyer for AfriForum
whose son is now a second-year student staying at the residence,
expressed his disappointment on social media with the university
management and the SRC over this decision.</p>
<p>He wrote: “After the DA-dominated student council and
university management insisted that Sonop be kicked out of all hostel
competitions, including the first-year serry contest InSync, because
Sonop is too white and too Afrikaans, the Sonop first years today kept
their sarcasm for everyone interested in the West lawn."</p>
<p>According to Spies, Sonop’s language policy had already changed as all hostel meetings were in English.</p>
<p>Sonop management said it would meet with UP management on
Friday for further discussions. A press briefing would be hosted by
Sonop to iron out the issues.</p>
<p>Meanwhile, the “whites and Christian only” De Goede Hoop
hostel occupied by UP students was also dealt a blow by the Commission
for the Promotion and Protection of the Rights of Cultural, Religious
and Linguistic Communities, or CRL Rights Commission.</p>
<figure><img src="https://image.iol.co.za/image/1/process/620x816?source=https://inm-baobab-prod-eu-west-1.s3.amazonaws.com/public/inm/media/image/100783066.JPG&operation=CROP&offset=21x61&resize=1745x2298"><figcaption><b><font size="2">The
CRL Rights Commission has made transformation proposals for the
"Afrikaans and Christian only" De Goede Hoop residence in Sunnyside.
Picture: Thobile Mathonsi/ANA</font></b></figcaption></figure>
<p>A complaint was lodged last March by community activist
Yusuf Abramjee. He asked for a probe into the residence which was
exclusively for Afrikaans and Christian students. He and other
complainants argued that the residence was unconstitutional and “is
apartheid in disguise”. They called on the commission to probe the
matter and make a ruling urgently.</p>
<p>The residence is divided into De Goede Hoop Mans (men) and De Goede Hoop Dames (ladies).</p>
<p>When the commission visited the residence, it found that only white students were admitted. There were no black residents.</p>
<p><b><font size="4">Also read: <a href="https://www.iol.co.za/news/opinion/afrikaners-merely-looking-to-protect-language-and-culture-8708682">Afrikaners merely looking to protect language and culture</a></font></b></p>
<p>In addition, students were expected to write an Afrikaans essay to motivate their application.</p>
<p>The commission has since recommended that the writing of an Afrikaans essay be scrapped.</p>
<p>Further, the admission committee should be representative of all the demographics in society.</p>
<p>Abramjee said he couldn’t believe that, after two decades of democracy, institutions like these still existed.</p>
<p>He said the long battle finally yielded results. “I am
delighted about this outcome, and I hope it sends a strong message to
all the other institutions who are still living in the past,” he said.</p>
<p><b>Pretoria News</b></p></div></div>
<br>-- <br><div class="gmail_signature" data-smartmail="gmail_signature">=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+<br><br> Harold F. Schiffman<br><br>Professor Emeritus of <br> Dravidian Linguistics and Culture <br>Dept. of South Asia Studies <br>University of Pennsylvania<br>Philadelphia, PA 19104-6305<br><br>Phone: (215) 898-7475<br>Fax: (215) 573-2138 <br><br>Email: <a href="mailto:haroldfs@gmail.com" target="_blank">haroldfs@gmail.com</a><br><a href="http://ccat.sas.upenn.edu/~haroldfs/" target="_blank">http://ccat.sas.upenn.edu/~haroldfs/</a> <br><br>-------------------------------------------------</div>
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