Wits SRC president: In every white person there’s an element of Adolf Hitler

University of the Witwatersrand (Wits) SRC president Mcebo Dlamini is unapologetic about his love for Adolf Hitler.

Dlamini posted his sentiments about the man who has been labelled as one of the most ruthless in the history of mankind on Facebook saying, “In every white person there’s an element of Adolf Hitler”.

Since his Facebook comments were made public, Dlamini has been unapologetic about his comments despite an outcry from the South African Union of Jewish Students (SAUJS), who are calling for him to be removed as SRC president.

“People decide to interpret my words in their own way and they extract what suits them for their own selfish ends,” explained Dlamini.

He added that he merely compared Nazi Germany and Israel which he is allowed to do as an academic.

He said he admires Hitler because he managed to influence a nation and make people support him.

“As much as Hitler was bad, there was a good side of him. He managed to uplift the spirit of German people after it had gone down in 1938. He managed to uplift the economy and infrastructure and to organise the German people to rally behind him. He rose from nowhere to become a leader.”

SAUJS chairman Natan Pollack said “firm action” will be taken against the Wits SRC president following his “Adolf Hitler” Facebook post on Saturday.

The union called Dlamini a “racist” and said they will ensure he no longer maintains his presidency as he is, “a total embarrassment and disgrace to Wits University”.

Wits Vice-Chancellor and Principal Professor Adam Habib said,“The Facebook posts and subsequent comments are racist and offensive in the extreme. They make disparaging remarks about various communities and assume a similar characteristic among all white people. Disturbingly, they valorise a racist autocrat who was responsible for the murder of millions of people.”

According to Habib, valorising such an individual is, “utterly unacceptable and especially dangerous in a climate where we are experiencing xenophobic attacks”.

Habib added that the statement violates the fundamental values of Wits University.

He has referred Dlamini for investigation, to establish whether disciplinary charges should be brought against him in this regard.

Habib also apologised to those offended by the remarks of the SRC leader.

These comments went viral on Twitter, here are a few: