This is the real South Africa?

Quatro estudantes brancos da Universidade do Estado Livre, em Orange, fizeram um vídeo onde forçavam contínuos negros a comer uma mistura de comida de cão e urina. Filmado há mais de um ano, só apareceu esta semana. Dois dos alunos foram suspensos. Os restantes - que já não estudam na Universidade - vão ser processados.

As manifestações sucedem-se no país de Nelson Mandela, exigindo a punição dos quatro estudantes brancos que realizaram o vídeo racista.

¿Está Suráfrica lejos de ser la Nación del Arco Iris proclamada por Nelson Mandela? A juzgar por incidentes recientes, sí. El último, que tiene a Suráfrica sublevada y en la que no se habla de otra cosa, viene de la mano de cuatro estudiantes blancos de la Universidad del Free State, quienes, para mostrar su oposición a la integración racial en las residencias del campus iniciada este año, grabaron un vídeo en el que se ve a cuatro limpiadoras comiendo de rodillas una especie de estofado, sin saber que uno de los estudiantes había orinado en él.

Los universitarios, de la residencia para blancos Reitz, engañaron a las mujeres, -alguna de entrada edad-, para hacerlas correr en la pista de atletismo o competir bebiendo cerveza, lo que también se ve en el vídeo, cuajado de comentarios como, "al final, esto es lo que pensamos de la integración", "érase una vez que los boers vivían felices aquí en la isla de Reitz hasta el momento en que los menos aventajados -un eufemismo utilizado para describir a la población negra- descubrieron la palabra integración en el diccionario".

El vídeo, en el que ninguno de los jóvenes tiene problemas para enseñar sus caras, fue filtrado primero a la prensa, -al parecer por una novia ultrajada- y posteriormente emitido en la cadena privada e-tv el pasado martes. El miércoles, la Universidad, una de las más antiguas del país y con el correspondiente historial de sólo para blancos del apartheid, decidió suspender las clases.

La policía tuvo que detener a cinco participantes en una manifestación de repulsa del vídeo durante el intento de la multitud de asaltar la residencia Reitz. El video fue grabado el pasado mes de septiembre y dos de los cuatro estudiantes responsables ya finalizaron sus carreras. Los otros dos fueron inmediatamente expulsados, aunque todos ellos deberán enfrentarse a la justicia. Su respuesta, ayer, fue que todo fue una actuación, que no orinaron en el estofado sino que sólo lo parece, piden perdón por lo sucedido y aseguran ser amigos de los empleados humillados.

Este no es el único incidente racial vivido en Suráfrica últimamente: la semana pasada, por ejemplo, el Forum de Periodistas Negros también causó polémica al expulsar a dos periodistas blancos de una reunión con el presidente del Congreso Nacional Africano (ANC), Jacob Zuma, tan sólo por ser blancos.

Hace un mes un joven de diecisiete años, Johan Nel, de Swartruggens, en la provincia del North West, sin razón aparente y armado con un rifle, se dirigió al gueto de Skielik y sin mediar palabra se lió a disparar. Mató a cuatro personas, entre ellas un bebé de tres meses. Se sospecha que Nel pudo actuar motivado por los asaltos y robos a agricultores blancos ocurridos en la zona.

The surly white students, dressed in their uniform of tight shorts and rugby shirts, gathered at the entrance of the once exclusively white hostel and cast hostile glances at the visitors.

Black students hastened their pace or crossed to the other side of the road as they passed the main entrance of Reitz residence, named after a premier of the Orange Free State, one of the early Boer Republics. The scene would have been unremarkable two decades ago, when apartheid was in force. But a racial clash has erupted between young white and black students, many of them children when the country's race laws were disbanded 14 years ago.

“We know what they are capable of. There have been many incidents in the past,” Earl Coetzee, a journalist with the campus radio station, said. “At first, we said it is the Reitz lot again and laughed. Then we realised it was more serious.” Yesterday's stand-off came a day after a home-made video showing male Afrikaner students forcing black domestic workers to eat dirty meat and drink soup into which they had urinated outraged South Africa.

Students were back in class when lectures restarted after a violent demonstration outside the hostel on Wednesday. “It is tense here. Not all white students are like that lot but the university is split along racial grounds,” Lize du Plessis, a 20-year-old white student, said. The video, which was made to protest against moves to integrate blacks and whites in the same residences, shows the students forcing the women cleaners to drink beer and perform athletic tasks. Described as disgusting, it has shocked South Africans across the political spectrum.

It has underlined how little real change has occurred outside the sophisticated bubbles of Cape Town and Johannesburg. It has also damaged the image of the multiracial “Rainbow Nation” since the end of apartheid. Students and staff on the campus said that the incident, although the most extreme in recent times, was far from unique. “This place is very racist and the Reitz boys are the worst of the lot. There is very little racial harmony here,” said Mpho Motibi, a 23-year-old law student, who complained to the university authorities after some students set dogs on her.

More worryingly, for South Africa as a whole, the divisions on campus reflect the continuing stand-off bordering on open dislike between black and white in largely rural and often poor areas such as the Free State. Billyboy Ramahlele, director of diversity at the university, said: “This is the real South Africa. That is what has shocked people about what happened here. The tragedy is these white boys don't even think they have done anything wrong.”

He said that many of the white students, many of whom were only 10 when apartheid ended, came from remote areas where their parents paid lip service to the new South Africa. Many accuse the African National Congress of abandoning its early promises of an all-inclusive democracy and feel marginalised by affirmative action programmes while their pleas for action on crime go unanswered.

White students at the campus accuse the blacks of overreacting and making politics out of what was “just a joke”. Black students are outraged that their white counterparts do not condemn the video equivocally.

More clashes are expected as the university accelerates plans for integration among the 25,000 students - 55 per cent of whom are black. “We condemn the video but we are not going to sit back and have our hostel maligned like this,” Pieter Odenhaal, the head student at Reitz, said.