UKZN has threatened legal action against raunchy student websites where intimate secrets are confessed.
|||Durban - The University of KwaZulu-Natal has threatened legal action against raunchy student websites on which intimate, embarrassing and sometimes raunchy secrets of university life are confessed.
South African students have latched on to an international trend where users secretly post their “University Confessions” about sex, drunken behaviour and university politics on Facebook and Twitter.
One confessor on the forum said that he/she regretted joining UKZN because it was an ANC camp. “I wish I hadn’t studied at UKZN coz we spend so much time striking and not studying. I guess this is what happens when you enrol to an ANC camp.”
Others have complained about favouritism shown to certain students by lecturers.
UKZN spokeswoman Nomonde Mbadi said:
“In the case of serious allegations that have no merit, the university is exploring measures with Facebook to close these pages and proceed with legal action against persons who bring the university’s name into disrepute.”
Mbadi also warned students against posting on the site. “We urge all users to exercise common sense and act responsibly.”
This new movement is spreading like wildfire among students at most universities in the country. The most popular is the UCT Confessions page. It was only founded on May 20 and already has 17 490 likes. The Rhodes and UKZN pages, which are even younger, have 8 929 and 8 005 followers respectively. The University of Johannesburg and Wits pages have just under 10 000.
Some of the stories are funny while others are really raunchy. “The number of times I’ve been caught messing around with girls on campus is too damn high. It’s inconsiderate, but I have needs. I’m sorry,” posted one UKZN student.
“I have found a couple of short, curly, black hairs in the breyani at the vegetarian-only stall at Howard College. This is likely pubic hair and I’ve found it more than once,” said another.
One Rhodes confessor said: “I wrote Constitutional Law drunk. I passed. #rebel.” And another confessed that he had been having an affair with an older woman. “I’m staying in a two man’s digs with a woman twice my age. I haven’t spent any money on rent and groceries since I signed the lease, neither have I slept on my own bed. I’m always in her bed. Life’s Good,” read the post.
Officials at UCT said that they had no plans to investigate the legitimacy of some claims in the forums. Spokeswoman Gerda Kruger said although they were aware of the page, the university distanced itself from comments made on it and it was important to remember the statements made on the forum could be false.
What the confessions also reveal is a lot of division and rivalry among students from different departments within universities and students not being happy with the way institutions are run.
A law student from UKZN said that other students from the university were hogging their facilities. “As a Law student, let it be known that non-Law students need to stay the f*** out of our Law library. Sleeping on the floor in-between bookshelves and using our computers to Google song lyrics is not an excuse for you taking up our space. We are pissed and we are watching you.”
A student from Rhodes posted she was not happy about the fees foreign students had to pay at the university. “The Rhodes University international student fee is too high. It’s not like we get an “international students’ lounge” in which we get served various international cuisine. I have paid that fee every year for five years.”
Despite the supposed anonymity of the forums, some students have posted that the service is not anonymous.
One student from UKZN said that he/she regretted posting on the page. “I regret making these damn confessions coz people figured out it was by me,” said the post.
There is also increasing worry among students that the information posted on there could be false or harmful.
Mkhuseli Bandezi, who is a law student at UKZN, said he was worried about the effect that these websites could have on students’ lives.
Benita Swanepoel, a computer technology student at Rhodes, said that it would be more worthwhile to have a page that was aimed at helping students at universities.
Independent on Saturday