Stellenbosch University says exams have been postponed by a week following an alleged racist incident and rape on campus.
The university added that all assessments which had deadlines for this coming week will also be extended by one week.
This decision comes after disruptions took place in the wake of the racism incident which took place at the Huis Marias residence on Sunday and the sexual assault of a female student on Tuesday.
Earlier last week, a white student, Theunis du Toit, was suspended after a video of him urinating on a black student’s belongings circulated on social media.
Another student was arrested and later released on R1,000 bail.
On Friday, Deputy Vice-Chancellor for Learning and Teaching Deresh Ramjugernath said students would no longer sit for their first semester exams on Monday.
“The university announced on Friday that the examinations would be postponed from their scheduled start on Monday, May 23 and would now start on Monday, 30 May”.
Ramjugernath said the decision to postpone examinations and assessments was taken after consultation and careful deliberation.
Ramjugernath said, “We understand that there’s been significant trauma and discomfort and our students are in a challenging mental state, and in an emotional state where it’s very difficult for them to write the exams come Monday.”
He added that the decision to postpone examinations and assessments received overwhelming support from all the representatives from the faculties within the Learning and Teaching Workstream.
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