Chumani Maxwele, the University of Cape Town student who made a name for himself by giving a Zuma cavalcade the middle finger and by throwing faeces at a statue of Cecil John Rhodes on campus, has been suspended.
Pat Lucas, manager of communications at UCT, said the suspension followed a hearing this week about an incident in which "the student is alleged to have intimidated, harassed, threatened and racially abused a member of staff".
The terms of the suspension, from today until July 19, allow Maxwele to write exams.
He told The Times that the outcome of the hearing was "politically motivated".
"We are being intimidated and silenced by the institution because we have said decolonising is a painful process.
"People are very angry that the statue got removed so now they are trying to do all they can to challenge us from all sides, but we are not deterred."
Maxwele said "white students and white staff" had aimed insults at the Rhodes Must Fall campaigners, and he "vehemently denied" the accusations levelled against him by the lecturer he was accused of threatening and abusing.
Lucas said UCT protocol was to keep disciplinary matters, including names of students and staff, confidential. She said it was "regrettable and inaccurate" that Maxwele had revealed the case to the media, claiming that he was being charged "because of his involvement in protests in the past weeks".
This week, Maxwele related his version of the incident in a local newspaper Land included the name of the lecturer who complained of being harassed by him.
He accused the complainant of trying to "victimise" him and of trying to prevent him from having a further role in the transformation of the university as "championed by the Rhodes Must Fall campaign".
He said he did not regret revealing the complainant's name to the media.
"I received my suspension order in front of the media, so management is in no position to talk about who reveals what to the media."
The complainant refused to speak to The Times.
After Adolf, now it's a Mao row
Another Twitter spat has broken out over students calling for measures used by the likes of Hitler . and now Mao.
UCT Student Representative Council president Ramabina Mahapa retweeted a tweet that said: "Maybe we should look at how Mao Zedong of China did it. Cultural revolution. It's not pretty but it's necessary."
While some students retweeted and favourited it, others responded by pointing out the harsh persecutions under Mao's leadership, and the millions who had died of starvation and other causes under his rule.
Mahapa said: "I retweeted it but I didn't enter into the discussion. I do think we should be looking at marginalised communities, language preservation, making sure all cultures are recognised. But I am not in support of a cultural revolution like that (the Chinese one)."
