Du Toits in flag drama
|Published
CONTROVERSY: Brother, friends with old SA flag
The family of Stellenbosch University student Theuns du Toit at the centre of the pee scandal face fresh controversy after a picture emerged of his brother brandishing the banned old South African flag.
The photo shows his older brother, Pierre, and three friends smiling and proudly holding the orange, white and blue vlag.
A relative told the Weekend Argus the picture was taken in December 2021.
The picture has raised eyebrows as Theuns’ father Rudi, a wine farmer from Worcester, in a previous news report called for a reconciliation meeting with victim Babalo Ndwayana’s family.
Theuns was filmed urinating in Ndwayana’s room, on his desk and belongings, in the Huis Marais residence last month.
The video went viral on social media and the university suspended Theuns.
On Friday, Stellenbosch University announced that retired Justice Sisi Khampepe had been appointed as commissioner to conduct an independent inquiry into allegations of racism.
In 2019, the Equality Court ruled that the gratuitous display of the old flag, in private and public spaces, was a form of hate speech.
The old flag could only be displayed for “genuine artistic, academic or journalistic expression in the public interest”.
The Weekend Argus gave Pierre a right of reply, but he blocked the reporter on WhatsApp and declined calls. His father also refused to comment.
Theuns’ uncle, Marius “Bankies” van der Bank, told the Weekend Argus last week his nephew was drunk when he peed on Babalo’s belongings: “Theuns is not a racist, his parents did not raise him like that.”