BBC Homepage
  • Skip to content
  • Accessibility Help
  • Your account
  • Notifications
  • Home
  • News
  • Sport
  • Weather
  • iPlayer
  • Sounds
  • Bitesize
  • CBBC
  • CBeebies
  • Food
  • More menu
More menu
Search BBC
  • Home
  • News
  • Sport
  • Weather
  • iPlayer
  • Sounds
  • Bitesize
  • CBBC
  • CBeebies
  • Food
Close menu
BBC News
Menu
  • Home
  • InDepth
  • Israel-Gaza war
  • War in Ukraine
  • Climate
  • UK
  • World
  • Business
  • Politics
  • Culture
More
  • Tech
  • Science
  • Health
  • Family & Education
  • In Pictures
  • Newsbeat
  • BBC Verify
  • Disability
  • Trending

The black students rallying against "remnants of apartheid"

  • Published
    2 September 2015
Share page
About sharing
YouTube screenshot of "Luister" filmImage source, YouTube/ContrabandCapeTown
Image caption,

A film about alleged racial discrimination at Stellenbosch University has been watched more than 250,000 times on YouTube

ByBBC Trending
What's popular and why

Black students at an elite South African university go viral online, with their complaint about enduring racism

The controversy began when a film was posted on YouTube, external chronicling the challenges faced by black students at Stellenbosch University, one of Africa's most highly regarded universities. Titled "Luister" - meaning "Listen" in Afrikaans - the film detailed racist incidents and also described how students struggled with Afrikaans lessons. "If you don't speak Afrikaans, you don't belong here," said one interviewee, while another said: "I cannot after 23 years of freedom be in a space where I am fighting to simply go to classes that I pay for, like any other student."

The video has racked up more than 250,000 views. It's also fuelled a campaign by students who are calling for a review of the use of Afrikaans, one of South Africa's 11 official languages and one which developed from the descendants of Dutch, German and French settlers who arrived in the 17th century.

Open Stellenbosch, external, a group of students and staff working "to purge the oppressive remnants of apartheid" in the university, held a mass demonstration on Tuesday to express their anger against the language policy. The group is demanding that no student should be forced to learn in Afrikaans and all classes must be available in English. "We also are hopeful that many people are now beginning to see that the language policy, despite its stated intentions, safeguards Afrikaans and Afrikaner culture at the expense of black people," it said, external on Facebook.

The language debate has spilled out well beyond the university campus and has become a talking point across the country and on social media.

Tweet with photo of a woman holding up a sign that says "I thought we had this conversation in 1976 though fam??? #AfricaforAfricans"Image source, Twitter/BTW_ShesAsanda
Image caption,

Signs at a demonstration at the university made reference to the anti-apartheid Soweto uprising of 1976, which began after a law mandating Afrikaans school lessons

"What started off as a few moans and debates about that language policy has evolved and morphed into a revolution," tweeted, external one user, while another said, external: "@OpenStellies challenges me to do better, accept more responsibility and #Luister to pain+anger and reflect on my part in it."

"It's unrealistic to try and keep a university Afrikaans," commented a user on YouTube, "The terrible racism that still harms many is still real, and as long as there's a system that excludes some, even if you argue it's just on the academic level, it will filter through into the campus culture."

The intense reactions to the film also led to the university officials being called before a parliamentary committee, external. Vice-chancellor Professor Wim de Villiers said Luister made him "extremely uncomfortable."

"Hearing these narratives of racism is painful to me. I'm not going to defend the indefensible. These things are wrong, end of story," he said, external. In a statement, external emailed to BBC Trending, the university said it wanted to start discussions with Open Stellenbosch - officials say the activists have so far refused to talk.

But the Open Stellenbosch group has also come under criticism. Social media users noted that one of the people featured in the film was allegedly involved in a clash on a college campus on Tuesday, although the group distanced itself from the student, external. And some reported that they heard the slogan "One Settler, One Bullet" - an anti-white rallying cry used by an armed group during the anti-apartheid struggle - during the Stellenbosch protest. "It feels like I am not welcome in Stellenbosch," wrote one white blogger, external.

Comparisons have been drawn between the protest and #BlackLivesMatter, the hashtag used predominantly in the US to protest against police violence. "Solidarity with those participating at the mass march against apartheid culture," tweeted, external Zellie Imani, an American activist and blogger behind the website Black Culture.

Blog by Samiha Nettikkara, external

Additional reporting by Waseem Mushtaq

Next story: Demand to open doors to Syrians spreading online

Refugees welcomeImage source, AFP

From the UK to Saudi Arabia, the demand that Syrians and other refugees be accepted is being spread by vocal online campaigns. READ MORE

You can follow BBC Trending on Twitter @BBCtrending, external, and find us on Facebook, external. All our stories are at bbc.com/trending.

Top stories

  • Live. 

    Trump says Hamas 'ready for lasting peace' after group agrees to release hostages

    • 7221 viewing7.2k viewing
  • Synagogue attacker was on bail after rape arrest, police say

    • Published
      23 minutes ago
  • Synagogue attack victims 'died saving others'

    • Published
      3 hours ago

More to explore

  • What we know about Manchester synagogue attack

    Worshippers gather near the scene of the attack
  • Dame Patricia Routledge: The life of TV's magnificently snobby 'Hyacinth Bucket'

    Patricia Routledge
  • Taylor Swift feared happiness could 'dry up' her songwriting

    Taylor Swift on the Graham Norton Show, wearing a black dress with a jewelled neckband and smiling, against a purple backdrop
  • Why we struggle to protect the young from conspiracy theorist parents

    A treated image showing Kate Shemirani on the left and Paloma on the right
  • Is it a cold, flu or Covid – and how to avoid the worst

    A woman outside in a grey wool hat and green jumper blows her nose on a tissue.
  • Behind the Gen Z protesters who want to force Madagascar's president from power

    Masked protesters wearing wearing black glasses and and caps pose on a street
  • 'It was very tough but I love life' - ex-hostage whose family were killed on 7 October

    Portrait of Eli Sharabi in a black shirt with a yellow ribbon lapel pin, sitting in a room with largely neutral colours
  • Weekly quiz: Who said 'I do' to Selena Gomez?

    Selena Gomez, a young woman with dark hair, wears a sleeveless, high-necked white wedding gown and is smiling. Her veil is up.
  • News Daily: Our flagship daily newsletter delivered to your inbox first thing, with all the latest headlines

    A promo promoting the News Daily newsletter - a graphic of an orange sphere with two concentric crescent shapes around it in a red-orange gradient, like a sound wave.
loading elsewhere stories

Most read

  1. 1

    Storm Amy danger warnings as wind gusts approaching 100mph recorded

  2. 2

    Serving Met police officer arrested after BBC Panorama investigation

  3. 3

    Climbing star, 23, dies after falling from Yosemite's El Capitan

  4. 4

    Bonehead out of Oasis tour after cancer diagnosis

  5. 5

    Teenage girls detained for killing man in street

  6. 6

    Dad given life for killing baby son in hospital

  7. 7

    Synagogue attacker was on bail after rape arrest, police say

  8. 8

    Lammy told 'shame on you' by attack vigil crowd

  9. 9

    Sarah Mullally named as new Archbishop of Canterbury

  10. 10

    Synagogue attack victims 'died saving others'

BBC News Services

  • On your mobile
  • On smart speakers
  • Get news alerts
  • Contact BBC News

Best of the BBC

  • Alan Partridge returns with a 'brave' new project

    • Attribution
      iPlayer

    Added to Watchlist
    How Are You? It's Alan (Partridge) has been added to your iPlayer Watchlist.
    How Are You? It's Alan (Partridge)
  • Dragons' Den returns with more hopeful entrepreneurs

    • Attribution
      iPlayer

    Added to Watchlist
    Dragons' Den has been added to your iPlayer Watchlist.
    Dragons' Den
  • A heartfelt comedy exploring adoption and parenthood

    • Attribution
      iPlayer

    Added to Watchlist
    Trying has been added to your iPlayer Watchlist.
    Trying
  • What drives young women to risk it all in the MMA cage?

    • Attribution
      iPlayer

    Added to Watchlist
    Girl Fight has been added to your iPlayer Watchlist.
    Girl Fight
  • Home
  • News
  • Sport
  • Weather
  • iPlayer
  • Sounds
  • Bitesize
  • CBBC
  • CBeebies
  • Food
  • Terms of Use
  • About the BBC
  • Privacy Policy
  • Cookies
  • Accessibility Help
  • Parental Guidance
  • Contact the BBC
  • Make an editorial complaint
  • BBC emails for you

Copyright © 2025 BBC. The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites. Read about our approach to external linking.