The Stellenbosch Magistrate’s Court has ruled that a former student of the town’s university was not guilty of charges arising from a highly publicised incident in which he was filmed urinating on another student’s belongings.
Theuns du Toit had been charged with crimen injuria and malicious damage to property, after he had returned from a night of drinking (in 2022), entered a student’s room and urinated on his textbooks and laptop. The events were captured on film and sparked a wave of condemnation. That the student whose belongings were defaced – Babalo Ndwayana – was black and Du Toit white had led to the ascription of racial motives to the affair.
Du Toit was expelled from the university for his conduct.
The criminal charges, however, had failed to stick as Du Toit was severely intoxicated at the time, which made it difficult to ascribe intent to his actions. His attorney added that the state had failed to prove that there had been damage to Ndwayana’s property.