A UCT student who is currently awaiting accommodation, but not protesting, spoke to News24 about the current protests at the university.

The student did not want to be named, but said that she was sharing temporary accommodation with a number of individuals protesting. News24 quoted her as saying:

“One, this is that there is an extreme hatred of whites. From the way they speak it’s more about apartheid,” she said when asked what had fueled this so-called hatred.

The student says that the the university had informed all affected students of the housing crisis. Some 700 beds which are usually released have not been freed up yet due to deferred exams and other reasons.

“The university let them know that there is no residence available for them [but] they didn’t make other plans.

“Yet they came here and the university rented these lodges, one in Mowbray and one in Observatory, to accommodate them, which is really good. It’s not like the shack they have put up here. It has a bed and a desk and warm water and three delicious meals every day,” she said.

A number of affected students set up a shack on campus to protest and later also defaced statues, plaques and set alight artwork, including works of a black protest artist and a painting of Molly Blackburn, an anti-apartheid activist. Commemorations to Jan Smuts were also destroyed. Protesters said they were “burning whiteness” and a war memorial (pictured above) was defaced with the words “Fuck White People” written on it.