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Wilgenhof: Stellenbosch University's dark side
After the 2022 saga where a Stellenbosch University student was caught on camera urinating on the property of another, the tertiary institution was more than likely holding its breath for a break in 2024.
However, the Wilgenhof Men's Residence had other ideas.
University officials discovered two secret rooms during a raid last month which was prompted by a 23-page report from a former Wilgenhof resident who detailed the punishment he endured in 2022, including being forced to drink a toxic mixture of linseed oil and aloe crystals, and having a liquid with a "urine-like odour" being poured over his body.
Crude drawings discovered in the raid depicted what appeared to be sexual assault.
It's unclear why, despite previous investigations at the res, the practice appears to have been ongoing.
None of this could be reassuring for a parent sending their child to varsity for the first time, especially one who might be assigned to Wilgenhof.
News24's education reporter Prega Govender writes in this week's edition of the Friday Briefing that questions remain about when the initiation practices at the res stopped, if they stopped at all, and why the two secret rooms weren't discovered sooner.
Wilhelm Verwoerd was at Wilgenhof between 1982 and 1986. We have included his open letter to fellow Wilgenhoffers, in which he examines how upholding traditions has resulted in the latest saga and how he broke the cycle.
We also have a submission from Stellenbosch University's deputy vice-chancellor, Professor Deresh Ramjugernath.
He examines how unsavoury incidents in some male residences are indicative of a dark and secretive side to residence culture that runs counter to the values of the university.
For more insight into whether Wilgenhof exhibited some characteristics of a cult, we asked Paul Joubert, a master's student in philosophy at Stellenbosch University, to give his view.
We end this week's Friday Briefing with submissions from former Stellenbosch University student and News24 journalist William Brederode and Munita Dunn-Coetzee from the University of the Free State.
Just like the latest incident at the university, this week's edition is heavy-going, but we hope it provides a deeper understanding into what happened.
Best,
Vanessa Banton,
Opinions editor.
It'll take more than repainting two "secret rooms" to erase Wilgenhof's dark history
While Wilgenhof claims the two "secret rooms" discovered recently during a raid held its "historical artefacts", Prega Govender writes that by all indications, initiation practices appeared to be continuing as recently as 2022.
OPEN LETTER FROM AN OLD BOY TO WILGENHOFFERS | To be or not to be a white papegaai
In this open letter to fellow Wilgenhoffers, Wilhelm Verwoerd recounts how he broke the cycle of parroting traditions passed down from generation to generation.
There is no room for practices and a culture that destroy our humanity
To optimally align the residential structures with the centre, Stellenbosch University implemented definitive steps, but in the case of Wilgenhof, the jury is still out on whether the residence leadership fully complied with the undertakings, writes Deresh Ramjugernath.
Immediate reactions, besides shock, to the Wilgenhof scandal have also included bafflement that such things could possibly be happening in a university residence in this day and age. Paul Joubert examines the residence through the lens of a cult for more insight.
No Mr Wiese, decency is not the first rule of Wilgenhof
Men’s residences at Stellenbosch held on to tradition at almost all costs. The response of Wilgenhof alumni to the "historical artefacts" in the archive room at Wilgenhof made this abundantly clear, writes William Brederode.
Initiation can leave lasting trauma. Would you let your son go to Wilgenhof?
Hazardous initiation activities – like the current discourse on Wilgenhof's "house of horrors" – have far-reaching negative physical and psychological consequences for both parents and students, writes Munita Dunn-Coetzee
