Oxford student who refused to tip waitress claims his comments 'weren't personal'

The co-founder of the Rhodes Must Fall campaign has refused to apologise for his comments to a white South African waitress, adding they were not personal but necessary to disrupt "whiteness".

Ntokozo Qwabe, a South African postgraduate Rhodes scholar at Oxford University, caused outrage after saying on social media he had made Cape Town waitress Ashleigh Schultz cry “typical white tears" after he wrote on a cafe bill: "We will tip when you return the land".

He has been identified as a leader of the campaign for the removal of the statue of Cecil Rhodes, a Victorian imperialist and mining magnate, from Oxford's Oriel College.

In a Daily Vox blog, Mr Qwabe wrote that the fact Ms Schultz was working class "isn't as material as it is made out to be".

He said: "Even if she’s working class, she is linked to whiteness. By virtue of her skin colour, she is privileged.

"The aftermath has revealed to us that there’s no such thing as “this is an oppressed white person.”

Mr Qwabe said the media reports of the incident have distorted the facts, claiming he had made it clear to Ms Schultz and the restaurant manager the comment was not meant to be personal.

"We explained to the waitress and manager that this wasn’t to be taken personally – it was a disruption of normal order of space," he said

"The manager came to our table and made a scene; this is what we call white tears. They’re not literal tears – no one cried. She ran with the idea of a helpless violated person because of the thousands that came her way."

Mr Qwabe added: "People have dug out her and her mum’s social media posts and it just shows how problematic they are.

"These innocent white girl tears re-entrenches patriarchy because white women’s tears make white men want to jump in and save white women from all these aggressive black people."

Mr Qwabe has previously caused controversy by calling for the ban of the French Tricolour flag following the Paris attacks, saying it represents "violent imperialism".

Oxford University has rejected a petition calling for his scholarship to be revoked.

After finishing his final term at Oxford, Mr Qwabe is planning to return to the University of Cape Town as a teaching and research assistant.