THE STORM BENEATH THE SPRING: NWU’S SEPTEMBER OF UNREST

Abygail Smit
@Abysmit06

While students have been enjoying the warm sun, fun days at the Potchefstroom dam, or even making use of the library to study for semesters, there has been a shift in patience from societies at the North-West University (NWU) Potchefstroom campus, leading to marches, unhappiness and a call for action from the NWU. 

On Thursday 5 June, in the parking lot of the J6 building, or the Weet-en-Sweet, a group of NWU students chanted “Kill the boer, Kill the farmer” whilst adding foul language that caused an uproar from NWU students feeling unsafe and outrage. AfriForum Jeug responded to the videos posted with an online petition to urge the NWU to publicly condemn the chant “Kill the boer, kill the farmer” as well as act against students.

We are now nearing the end of September, and no action has been taken against these students or against the chant “Kill the boer, Kill the farmer.” Feeling frustrated, AfriForum Jeug organized a march on Thursday, 11 September, to hand over a petition to publicly condemn the singing of “Kill the boer, Kill the farmer” to the Director of Student Life on the NWU Potchefstroom campus, Dr, Corrie Rheeder. 

Many students attended this event, wearing AfriForum Jeug shirts with the quote “Feite wen/ facts win” on the back. The march was extremely peaceful and routed from the Amphitheatre to the F1 building. Plenty of students felt positive about the change they could cause by attending the march, there was also a banner where students could sign their names or write down a bible verse or quote. Although AfriForum Jeug felt accomplished with their attempt to condemn the chant, the Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) however felt different about their endeavor. On Monday 22 September, just 11 days after AfriForum’s march, the EFF hosted their own march against racism, homophobic attacks, and the criminalisation of the “Kill the boer” chant. 

The participants of this march met at Building C6 on the NWU campus and walked to building F1 and handed over a memorandum while singing songs and holding up posters titled “Shoot to kill” and “Kill the boer”, to end their march the students gathered around F1 and started chanting the infamous “Kill the boer” chant. Many students of the NWU are upset about this action and the AfriForum Jeug-PUK branch has addressed the students by stating that they are aware of the events. 

The fight between the EFF and AfriForum isn’t the only thing that happened on campus this month. On the morning of 10 September, students were shocked to see a very vile and foul quote sprayed on the pride flag painted in the Amphitheatre. Students were not only posting about the picture on their social media platforms, but also tagging the NWU and asking for action to be taken against the perpetrator(s). A message from the chairperson of the NWU pride committee was sent on the social pride group of the NWU stating “I want to assure everyone that the safety and well-being of all students remain our top priority following the recent incident of vandalism targeting the pride symbol campus. We are working closely with protection services to address this matter and are confident that the incident will be thoroughly investigated and that the individual responsible will be held accountable.” 

The chairperson further encouraged open dialogue and for members to stand together in solidarity. The vandalism happened only a day after Ntlantla Smith, an NWU student on the Potchefstroom campus, was assaulted in the bathroom of the G23 building. According to Smith’s social media post, he was getting dressed for a photoshoot when a man walked in, used the bathroom, and threw a toilet paper he just used at him. This situation is deeply upsetting and sadly, Protection Services dropped Smith’s case. 

With these two upsetting events, the NWU pride committee organized a pride march on Friday, 19 September. Kgothatso Pilane, a second year student studying Behavioral Sciences with Psychology and Sociology attended the march and stated the following, “It was a hot day, but people pulled up in numbers and we had a peaceful march as expected.” When asked what the purpose of the march was, Kgothatso answered that the march was planned to emphasize that queer people have rights and should be respected according to the memorandum of demand provided by the society’s chairperson. They also requested bathrooms that would accommodate nonbinary people and to continue investigating the vandalism on the pride symbol as well as the incident at G23. Pilane believes that the march will be successful if those responsible are held accountable for their actions. 

September has not only been a month of flowers blooming and the sun shining. It has been a month of harassment, hate speech and discrimination. It is blatantly obvious that there is a division among students on campus. Different opinions are to be expected with a big and diverse campus such as NWU Potchefstroom campus. The question, however, is how much discrimination students can take before serious action is taken. The university now stands at a crossroads, faced with the urgent responsibility of balancing freedom of expression with the safety and dignity of its students. What happens next will set the tone for whether NWU becomes a space of unity and accountability, or one of division and unrest.

The Afriforum Jeug peaceful march that occurred on Thursday, 11 September 2025 against the “Kill the boer, Kill the farmer” chant (Source: Afriforum Jeug)

The Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) peaceful march on Monday, 22 September 2025 against the criminalisation of the “Kill the boer, Kill the farmer” chant, racism, and homophobic attacks (Source: Afriforum Jeug)

Edited by Mhlengi Khumalo