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Cape Town - Suspended UCT student Chumani Maxwele has said a UCT statement alleging he said "whites should be killed" is just a pure allegation, and an old version of events put forth by the lecturer involved in his suspension.
The 30-year-old has made headlines more than once in his time at the University of Cape Town, having infamously thrown human waste on the Cecil John Rhodes statue on March 9 during the Rhodes Must Fall campaign.
He was also the subject of a civil case against Jacob Zuma’s Special Protection Unit in 2011, after allegedly showing the president’s motorcade the middle finger on a Cape Town street in February 2010, and was subsequently held against his will.
Most recently, Maxwele was suspended from the university in May of this year following an altercation with a lecturer over study space on campus during a public holiday.
Statement
On Friday, UCT released a statement indicating the reasons for Maxwele’s suspension, based on the allegations made by the lecturer involved, as well as the testimony of witnesses.
The university stated that it usually kept matters of student discipline private, but felt the release of the statement was warranted after Maxwele chose to speak to the media in May, before disciplinary proceedings wrapped.
Among the charges, Maxwele is alleged to have raised his voice at the lecturer; shouted aggressively that "the statue fell, now it's time for all whites to go"; and showed aggressive behaviour, which included banging on her office door.
He was also alleged to have said: "We must not listen to whites, we do not need their apologies. They have to be removed from UCT and have to be killed."
He said, she said
Maxwele though, told News24 on Monday that there is nothing new in the university’s statement, and that the allegations are only one side of the story.
“This is old stuff, it is just her version of events from her affidavit,” he said on Monday.
“The witnesses involved are her employees. One is a professor of the department, the others are tutors. And even they do not support her full version of events,” he claimed.
“But I released my own version of events [in May]. It’s he-said, she-said. The rest of the facts will be revealed later.”
The 30-year-old also said he appealed his suspension two weeks ago, but is still waiting to hear back from the university in that regard.
Maxwele’s hearing is due to restart on June 9, having initially been postponed from June 4 and 5.
To read the University of Cape Town’s full statement regarding Maxwele’s suspension, click here.
To read Chumani Maxwele’s version of events that lead to his suspension, click here.
