UniZulu expels student

‘Hate speech’ on social media

Social media comments, allegedly posted by Mxolisi Khanyile, have landed him in hot water at the University of Zululand. The three posts on Facebook led to the institution expelling him.

However, Khanyile, 25, a postgraduate student who was supposed to graduate in May with a BSc Agriculture (animal science), believes his expulsion was unfair and alleges the university did not follow proper procedures. The graduation was postponed due to the lockdown.

According to the charge sheet, the university alleges: “In various occasions you wrongfully, unlawfully engaged in hate speech by posting defamatory and false statements on social media, namely Facebook, of and concerning the university and the vicechancellor [Professor Xoliswa Mtose] with the intention to impair and bring the dignity and reputation of the university into disrepute, to incite discord among students ...”

It said on July 30, Khanyile posted that Mtose once gave herself a R478,000 bonus and bought houses worth R26m for executives with furniture worth R900,000. According to the Facebook post, the money was supposed to fund needy students and workers’ salaries.

The August 3 post read: “Did you know a faculty of education lecturer, who spoke and exposed Mtose for what she really is, was poisoned in 2017 and he was lost. A dean of the faculty of arts who exposed PhD scandals including top management who were beneficiaries was gunned down outside his home in 2018…”

The third post on August 9 said a mobile App for NSFAS students would deduct R30 without permission.

Khanyile said there were many Facebook accounts created using his name.

“I only posted about an article from 2016 [about the bonus, houses and furniture] and I don’t know about others. The disciplinary hearing never sat as I made the institution aware that I could not afford data ... but nothing happened up until I received an expulsion [on August 28].”

He said on the day of the hearing, he tried to join using the link sent but could not and has appealed his expulsion.

UniZulu spokesperson Gcina Nhleko said: “The notion that Khanyile was not subjected to a formal disciplinary process is a figment of his imagination...”