By Aphiwe Ngowapi and Anga-Anganda Bushwana
Yolanda Dyantyi describes herself as a radical African feminist, an award-winning social entrepreneur, a student of life and a story in the making.
In December 2017, Rhodes University banned Dyantyi for life from the institution, after the April 2016 wave of #RUreferenceList protests in which four male students were identified as alleged rapists, and hounded out of their university residences by groups of students led by, among others, Dyantyi. A 2017 Rhodes University disciplinary hearing found Dyantyi guilty of kidnapping, assault, defamation, and insubordination, expelling her for life from the University.
Dyantyi appealed in the High Court against the guilty verdict, saying that Rhodes University had denied her the right to a fair disciplinary, that she had not been allowed a legal representative, and that the ban was far too harsh a punishment. She lost the High Court case in March 2020, later bringing an appeal at the Supreme Court of Appeal (SCA). In March 2022, the SCA ruled in her favour, agreeing that two of the findings of the disciplinary hearing were “plainly wrong”.
On May 11, 2023, Dyantyi’s legal representatives, Gardee Godrich Attorneys served the university with a letter of demand and a notice of intent to start a civil case. According to the law firm, the university’s conduct was “unlawful at common law and unconstitutional in that it infringed on numerous human rights enshrined in the Bill of Rights and human rights international treaties to which South Africa is a signatory.”
The letter of demand says Dyantyi wants an apology for the inconvenience caused, an unendorsed academic transcript for all the years she was a student at the university, prompt payment of her debt to NSFAS of over R100 000, and compensation of R10 million for reputational damage from Rhodes University.
In an interview with Grocotts Mail, Dyantyi said: “I am suing for what I feel and believe is due to me. This isn’t just about money, it’s about restorative accountability for my life and over my name”.
When asked why she was suing for R10 million, Dyantyi replied “Why not 10 million? Is there a specific price tag on what reparations should be valued at or even look like for a young Black woman who was bullied and defamed by the institution and continue to suffer unimaginable trauma from just being a Rhodes student from 2015 – 2017 and all that’s followed me thereafter?”
Grocott’s Mail reached out to Rhodes University on 24 May for comment. According to communications officer Vilisile Bukula, the university has received the letter, and the lawyers are handling the matter.
