[lg policy] South Africa: Unathi lashed for ‘defending Stellenbosch racism’

[Harold Schiffman]

 Unathi lashed for ‘defending Stellenbosch racism’
<http://citizen.co.za/652081/unathi-lashed-for-defending-stellenbosch-racism/>
1223
Nandipha Pantsi
[image: Unathi Nkayi. (File photo by Gallo Images/Sowetan/Elvis Ntombela)]
Unathi Nkayi. (File photo by Gallo Images/Sowetan/Elvis Ntombela)
Musician Unathi Msengana caused a stir on twitter on Monday when she
seemingly tried to defend Stellenbosch University’s language policy that
isolates black students.

The conversation, which started on Msengana’s radio show on Metro FM, was
sparked by *Luister*, a documentary
<http://citizen.co.za/621081/why-did-god-make-me-black-maties-student-in-film/>
on the continuing racism that black students experience at the university.

A large part of the documentary also deals with the fact that while the
university
<http://citizen.co.za/651333/film-on-stellenbosch-racism-a-misrepresentation/>
is meant to be multilingual, Afrikaans is still the predominant language in
lectures, putting those who do not speak the language at a disadvantage.

Msengana apparently said black students in Stellenbosch who cannot speak
Afrikaans must have known that language would be an issue before they
applied to study there.

“You cannot say that they said Afrikaans wouldn’t [be an issue]. How do we
fight for you. That’s my point. Be fair guys. I know it hurts,” She wrote
to a twitter user under the handle @ThisIsPalo.
It wasn’t long before the *Idols SA* judge trended on the social network,
with many users slamming her views.

“Unathi is trying to belittle the struggles of the students at Stellies,”
wrote Attie Matyalana. “Unathi I pray your kids will grow up to be smarter
than you. Heck I hope they manage to get into Stellies,” another user wrote.

Msengana couldn’t comment at the time. She said “my flight is about to
leave, can we please talk tomorrow [Tuesday]”.

http://citizen.co.za/652081/unathi-lashed-for-defending-stellenbosch-racism/


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