'Suspend her': Indian-origin professor slammed as 'racist' after saying South Africans have 'poor work ethic'

An Indian‑origin professor at the University of the Witwatersrand in South Africa stirred row after posting racist remarks about South Africans. Professor Srila Roy, head of the sociology department, described South Africans as having “little ambition, complacent, and poor work ethic” in a message on social media platform X that was later deleted.The comments provoked a response from academics, politicians and professional groups in South Africa. Roy later apologised for her remarks.In her 'racist' post, Roy wrote: “South Africans have little ambition, are complacent and have poor work ethic (take that for your xenophobia that us foreigners are meant to suffer in silence, as we nurture successive generations at the university).”The remarks were made reacting to a report by South Africa’s Department of Higher Education and Training, which stated that about 7.7 per cent of academic staff in the country are international academics.

Roy claimed the data had triggered xenophobic attacks, and she said her post was meant as a response to those attitudes.

Following the row, Tebogo Letsie, a South African Member of Parliament and Chair of the Portfolio Committee on Higher Education and Training, called for action against the Indian-origin professor. Letsie said Roy’s comments were “deeply offensive, insulting and unacceptable, particularly from a senior academic entrusted with teaching, mentoring and shaping the minds of young South Africans.”

Letsie said that Wits University senior management must investigate the matter and take “appropriate and decisive action” against Roy.Roy issued an apology earlier this week, saying her post was a “hasty pushback against xenophobic attitudes” and that she regretted the hurt it caused. “I fully understand that the tweet caused hurt, and I sincerely regret and apologise for this. Given the painful history of racist stereotyping in South Africa, this tweet was simply wrong, and I take full responsibility for the pain it has caused,” she said.She added that her post was not intended to express derogatory views about South Africans or academics, and claimed that her work demonstrated respect for the community she serves. “I want to be expressly clear that I do not hold such views, and my written and committee work and supervision and mentoring stands as testament to that,” she said.Despite the apology, the South African Sociological Association (SASA) criticised Roy’s comments and viewed her apology as inadequate. SASA said the remarks were “problematic, classist, racist and xenophobic,” and that they violated the organisation’s principles and values. The association has called for Roy to be suspended from membership and to step down from certain academic responsibilities.