Yolanda Dyantyi, who was expelled for life from Rhodes University in 2017, has triumphed after a four-year battle.
Dyantyi announced on Twitter on Tuesday that she had won a case against Rhodes University. “I am overjoyed to say that I have triumphed over Rhodes University. “The appeal is sustained, and the judgment is reversed,” Dyantyi wrote.
Dyantyi, a final-year political science and international relations student, was expelled for participating in the #RhodesReferenceList social media movement.
The goal of the initiative was to identify and shame those accused of rapping other students on the Grahamstown campus.
Faced with mounting pressure and a tarnished reputation, the university moved quickly to identify a group of female students it accused of hauling rape suspects out of their rooms and humiliating them in public.
Dyantyi, who was recognized as a member of the group, was found guilty of kidnapping, violence, insubordination, and defamation during a disciplinary trial. Expulsion was the decision.
Dyantyi’s expulsion was justified at the time, according to Rhodes University, because she had committed a crime and infringed on the rights and liberties of other students (suspected rapists).
Her expulsion prevented her from enrolling in any further education institution and completing her degree.
