Stellenbosch University's Wilgenhof residence not 'racist or homophobic' - alumni association

An association representing 3 500 alumni of Wilgenhof men's residence at Stellenbosch University (SU) has laid bare details of two locked rooms that housed photographs of alleged past initiation practices, dating back to 1900.

The Wilgenhof Alumni Association informed a three-person panel that it is conducting a probe into the contents of the two rooms, and that "where past practices infringed on anyone's dignity and caused them harm, this is profoundly regretted".

It said in its 27-page submission, dated 29 February, that "any account of a Wilgenhoffer that suffered trauma is highly distressing, entirely unacceptable and does not accord with the spirit and ethos of Wilgenhof".