‘Ringleader’ and collaborators behind Stellenbosch Nazi posters identified

Stellenbosch University has made headway in investigating the imitation Nazi posters that surfaced on its campus on Tuesday. The investigation, led by its Equality Unit and Student Discipline division, has identified three individuals linked to planning the “Anglo-Afrikaaner” event.

Stellenbosch’s media liaison, Martin Viljoen, confirmed that , as it stands, the event and posters were primarily organised by one “main organiser”, with the support of others.

“We can’t say at this stage that an organisation was behind this, our understanding at the moment is that it’s an individual that tried to organise this meeting,” said Viljoen.

Imitation Nazi posters cause outrage at Stellenbosch University

Viljoen confirmed that the faux-Nazi posters which caused mass outrage were placed in order to advertise for an actual event – and were not simply a joke.

“Our understanding at this stage is that they wanted to seriously hold this event. Exactly what their aim was, and what the content of the meeting was, will form part of the continued investigation,” said Viljoen.

In a statement released on Wednesday, condemned the act, saying it would not allow any event promoting racial superiority to take place on campus. It also said that the posters were put up without the consent or knowledge of the university. It asked students to allow the investigation to take its course and said it would communicate all findings and further steps to the university community.

According to Viljoen, the individuals identified have thus far given statements but the university still needed to speak to the “main organiser”.

UPDATE: On Thursday, the university confirmed that it had suspended the three students while disciplinary processes are ongoing.

Featured image via Flickr