University calls for talks with Open Stellenbosch

This follows a meeting between management and Parliament's portfolio committee on higher education yesterday.

Rector and Vice Chancellor, Professor Wim de Villiers says discussions can help provide solutions. 

"We are listening, we are talking. We are committed to open discussion and will continue to do so," he said. 

The university's management urged Open Stellenbosch to take part in "constructive" discussions with management from setting the agenda and the terms of engagement.

Students gathered yesterday to march on campus and submit a memo of demands to management.

This was two weeks after the release of a documentary entitled Luister (Listen), in which students tell of anti-black racism on and off campus.

Minister of Higher Education and Training Blade Nzimande demanded answers from the University Council after seeing the documentary.

The minister said at the weekend the issue is not only about Afrikaans as a language of instruction, which some students say excludes them from some subjects, but also about racist attitudes among some white students and academics.

These issues were discussed in a meeting with representatives of councils and managers of some of the former Afrikaans universities on April 16, and although they said they would work on them, students' experiences showed otherwise.

He acknowledged efforts by De Villiers to remove discrimination, which included the Open Stellenbosch transformation initiative and a transformation office and committee.

The university's management says yesterday's meeting with the portfolio committee was constructive and resulted in useful inputs that will help the institution.

(File photo)