THE SYMBOLISM AND PSYCHOLOGY

The number 88, part of the name Hool 88 (Lair 88), is associated with far-right symbolism, says Professor Nicky Falkof of Wits University, an expert on the meaning of symbols. The black robes worn by the Nagligte are also reminiscent of the executioner’s coats worn by the far-right Ku Klux Klan.

“People who adopt these kinds of symbols are usually doing so because they suggest something scary, rebellious and supernatural,” Falkof says.

Hazing practices like the ones that have now been exposed can have a lasting impact on perpetrators and victims, says psychologist Nicolene Leonard.

“It’s humiliating, and when one person tries to gain and exercise power over another, it amounts to emotional bullying. The consequences for victims include things like damage to self-confidence, anxiety, depression, fear, anger, isolation from others, insomnia, underperformance, alcohol or drug abuse, and sometimes post-traumatic stress or even suicide,” she says.

Students are particularly vulnerable because they’re still at the end of adolescence, Leonard adds. “It’s the time when they’re figuring out where they belong and how to be themselves.”

It can also become a cycle that’s difficult to break. “Sometimes the victim becomes the perpetrator, because the perpetrators will most likely tell you they’ve been through it and they’re fine. It’s a vicious cycle, and such behaviour can last for generations.”

It’s extremely difficult for people to stand up against such practices, Leonard says.

“Because their self-esteem is already affected, and because they are probably afraid of what can happen to them and that they can be rejected by the group.”