A recently selected SRC member has sought legal advice after a question about allegations of physical assault was put to him during the SRC caucus on 15 August.
However, he has recently opted to rather not follow the legal path and instead made a post on Facebook where he apologised to “the Womxn of the Stellenbosch University Community” and specifically to his ex-girlfriend who he “physically handled”.
Sifiso Zungu (28), a theology graduate busy with a post-graduate diploma in community development and leadership, explains to MatieMedia that the rumour about allegations of physical assault started because his ex-girlfriend sent out a tweet that implied he was an abuser. She did not, however, open a case of any kind against him.
The campaign poster for Sifiso Zungu, one of the students that successfully ran for SRC during the 2019/2020 elections. PHOTO: Facebook.
All of the tweets mentioned in this article still exist. However, the Facebook post that is mentioned no longer exists.
The question raised during the caucus was not allowed by Maxwell Mlangeni, the facilitator for the caucus and an election convener for the SRC elections, because according to him “it was a rumour” and not an issue that could be “treated lightly”. As the facilitator, he did not want “the conversation to degenerate based on rumours”.
Both Zungu and his ex-girlfriend, who preferred to remain anonymous, have confirmed that they resolved their issues privately following the tweets.
A few days after her original tweet, the woman sent another tweet saying she regretted how she handled the situation. “I felt I had no one to speak to and the closest thing was social media,” she explains to MatieMedia. “I didn’t think of the outcome at all.”
Zungu believes that his ex-girlfriend was angry, but not necessarily malicious when she sent out the tweet. In response to a question about how it made him feel, he says: “Obviously it broke me.”
He initially decided to get a legal perspective instead of reacting online. However, he eventually decided to make a Facebook post to “take accountability for [himself]”.
He says that he does speak on his ex-girlfriend’s behalf, only his own. “If anybody wants me to account, I am more than happy to,” says Zungu, adding that his post should not be seen as him defending himself.
His statement on Facebook was made during the first week of protests against Gender-Based Violence (GBV) all over South Africa, and on the Stellenbosch campus too. He says that he decided to make the statement after people started calling him out on Twitter and asking him on campus why he was quiet.
The first part of the initial Facebook post made by Zungu. His ex-girlfriend’s name has been concealed at her request. Screenshot from Facebook.
The second part of Zungu’s Facebook post that is no longer available. Screenshot from Facebook.
His ex-girlfriend, who also commented on the Facebook post, says that she is angered by people who did not react to her initial post but were full of “fake outrage and sympathy” when Zungu made a post.
“That sent out a message to me that if that week of Uyinene’s death did not happen it would have been business as usual,” she says. She mentions that she is upset when people take her story and try “to come out as heroes but never check how I am doing”.
She claims, “Sifiso is not a bad person.” She does not believe that he should be judged for being a “bad partner to [her]”.
She says that everyone should understand that if she had wanted to hold him accountable, she would have “pushed [her] agenda during that week when everyone was still hot”. She explains that she doesn’t “dwell on things that drain [her] physically and emotionally”.
Zungu mentions that he has spoken to some of the people calling him out on Twitter before his Facebook post and tried to speak to them, although nobody could give him concrete reasons why they were calling him out. He also says that some of those people apologise when they see him on campus and that this perplexes him.
He says that he “didn’t plan to become the face of violence towards women” and that he does not necessarily expect women on campus to forgive him. He claims to have realised that he still has a lot to unlearn. “I apologise,” he says.
He is hoping to organise a camp where men can talk to each other about the issues of GBV and how they can be better.
He mentions that he hopes to be able to educate younger male students so that they don’t make the same mistakes as him. He says that the memorandum handed over by the GBV-movement can “guide us”.
This article has been edited since its first publication in order to more accurately reflect the events which transpired.