UPDATE: The South African Human Right Commission (SAHRC)’s Issac Mangena has confirmed that a complaint has been laid with the commission regarding Mthunzi’s t-shirt and the matter is being looked into by the commission. Mangena added that there will be no hearing held by the commission for Mthunzi on Wednesday.
“Being Black Is Sh*t” reads a T-shirts from the #WitsFMF F*ck campaign organised by the Fees Must Fall movement. This is also the front of the t-shirt that has landed Zama Mthunzi in hot water. Photo: Zimasa Mpemnyama
A group of protesting students took to the Great Hall Piazza to voice their displeasure about a fellow student, Zama Mthunzi being reported to the South African Human Rights Commission (SAHRC) for Hate Speech over a t-shirt he created during an artistic protest over the financial exclusion of poor students, presence of security personnel and other reasons, on campus in January.
Mthunzi, a 3rd year Mathematical Sciences student caused a stir on social media after an image of him in a t-shirt written “Fuck White People” trended on social media sites.
The Art Activation, which happened in January, was a protest organized by students to say how they felt at Wits-like they are “dying” because of the “oppression they face at the hands of the institution”. Mthunzi says the activation was when he ‘spontaneously’ created his t-shirt to show how he was feeling at time.
“I just took a t-shirt and I wrote how I was feeling at that moment. I was feeling hatred, because it was times of financial exclusion…and you’d look, come to lines and see how White people are paying, they’re relaxed, there are no financial problems so it arose that Black exclusion is so [rampant] in this institution” Mthunzi said.
Mthunzi’s t-shirt was met with harsh criticism by some members of the university community with a complaint having been allegedly laid with the Human Rights Commission and an investigation taking place in the university.
The protest took place during the lunch hour on Monday afternoon and there was a considerable amount of security personnel guarding the Great Hall entrance and the immediate surroundings of the piazza. This, however, did not seem to faze the demonstrating students as they continued painting t-shirts, singing and explaining to fellow students why they were there.
The university released a statement condemning the actions of protesting students, and it has also stated that it has heard that Mthunzi will “apparently” be appearing before the SAHRC but they are “Not sure who laid the complaint with SAHRC”.
The demonstration is set to continue till Wednesday in solidarity with Mthunzi who will allegedly be appearing before the Human Rights Commission regarding this complaint.
