MIRROR, mirror on the wall, who is the fairest of them all?

Answer: Caucasians - according to University of Cape Town's student newspaper.

A controversial survey conducted at UCT and published in The Varsity newspaper this week has led to a new racial storm at the university.

The survey claimed that most students found white people "more attractive" than other races on campus.

Yesterday, The Varsity was forced to apologise after it came under fire on social media, with the university's Student Representative Council [SRC], the South African Student Congress and the Young Communist League [YCL] all condemning the publication over the article "Is Love Colour Blind?"

The YCL indicated that they would report the publication to the Human Rights Commission and demanded "a full apology and retraction" of the article.

In the article, which was accompanied by a pie chart, writer Qamran Qabo said she had surveyed 60 people on the UCT campus, asking them which was "the more attractive race".

Thirty-eight percent of those surveyed found white people to be the "most attractive race", saying they would prefer them.

Coloureds came in second, with 19% of respondents finding them "attractive".

About 14% of those surveyed said they found Indians "attractive", while only 8% said they found Africans "attractive".

It's not clear when the survey was undertaken, but in the article, Qabo points out that she interviewed students of each race.

"In total, I surveyed 60 people, 10 from each of the following racial groups: white, coloured (culturally), Indian, East Asian, biracial and African," she wrote.

Mangaliso Khomo, chairman of the YCL branch at the university, said publication of the survey was insensitive, and that issues of race relations on campus were "a work in progress".

In February, the university chose to do away with race-based admissions policy.

The DA-controlled UCT SRC also condemned the survey, criticising the newspaper for not approaching the subject in a sensitive manner.

UCT spokesman Pat Lucas refused to comment, instead referring Sowetan to an apology which was issued by the student newspaper's editor Alexandra Nagel.

Nagel said the intention of the article was to create a platform for UCT students to engage with a topic which was still relevant in South Africa.