The entire student body at South Africa's University of the Western Cape was expelled en masse on June 11 in response to angry campus criticism of the newly appointed Rector. The University, with an enrollment of some 1,600 students, is reserved for members of the nation's mixed race (the so-called Coloureds). But the new Government-appointed Rector, Professor C.J. Kriel, is white and the students regard this fact as one more example of minority oppression under apartheid.

Trespass on Campus

The wave of protest that led to the closure of the University and the expulsion of students had followed upon the arrest of Student Union President Henry Isaacs on charges of "trespass". But this was only the latest in a long list of incidents that have kept the Western Cape campus in a state of turmoil. The disproportionate number of white to black lecturers is one of the most persistent complaints. Others are the strict rules and discipline — far harsher than anything on the white campuses — and the, at best, patronising attitude of the white staff toward the Coloured, Indian or Black students.

Isaacs is also President of the nationwide South Africa Students Organisation (SASO), which refers to all "non-white" students as Black, believing that they share a common interest in asserting their civil rights. His activities and demands earned him a stiff fine which he refused to pay; this act of indiscipline led to his suspension. But Isaacs continued to appear on the campus until he was finally arrested by a security officer on charges of trespassing lodged by the Rector. More than 500 students then staged a demonstration, boycotted lectures and demanded the resignation of Professor Kriel.

Incitement by Students

At this point, the Rector closed the University, ordered the students off the campus and announced that only those would be allowed to return who reapplied for admission. The next day, June 12, the Minister for Coloured Relations, Dr Schalk van der Merwe, defended the Rector's actions, charging that there had been "signs of incitement" by students bent on destroying the institution. Security police were out in force to keep the students off campus. But they needn't have bothered; the students voted overwhelmingly against reapplying for admission on the rector's terms. They adopted a motion expressing "abhorrence" at the "racist nature" of education in South Africa. They insisted that all students be readmitted at once.

When the incident came up in the South African Parliament, a member of the Opposition contended that the students had "a real case". After 13 years, he said, there were only 12 Coloureds on the University staff, compared with 79 whites. This could not be fair or right. The students, he insisted, should not be regarded as agitators. The Minister of Coloured Relations then announced the formation of a commission of inquiry to look into the students' grievances.

Another commission would consider the question of readmission. Both commissions he said, would have Coloured members on them.

Misconduct of Editor & Cartoonist

In a separate but not unrelated issue, two outspoken anti-apartheid students (white) were accused of publishing "obscene, insulting and defamatory" material in Wits Student, the weekly newspaper of Witwatersrand University. A disciplinary committee found both of them, Derek Louw, 21, the editor, and Franco Frescura, 26, a cartoonist, guilty of misconduct. Both were suspended for one year and forbidden to produce the Wits newpaper or any other student publication for "as long as they remain students at the University". The Students Representative Council called a meeting at which angry students voted to draw up a petition of protest against the disciplinary decision. The material which brought down the punishment on the students had consisted of bitterly humorous words and pictures critical of South African racial policies. The references to Government leaders, especially Prime Minister Vorster, were certainly obvious if not explicit.

Then on May 22, the two students were arrested and detained on charges of defamation and contravention of the Publications and Entertainment Act. Louw was released on bail the next day on condition that he report to the police every day. Frescura was also released on his second application.