DA calls for wide-ranging, comprehensive Ministerial Commission into violence and trauma on University and College campuses

25 September 2019

The Democratic Alliance (DA) calls for a wide-ranging and comprehensive Ministerial Commission on Violence and Trauma on University and College Campuses following the escalating levels of violence across campuses which have reached pathological proportions. In recent months we have seen murders, rapes, suicides and examples of collective violence in places throughout the country, many of them associated with violent student protests. Amongst others, these include:

- Sandile Ndlovu, stabbed in the head on the Durban University of Technology campus

- Katlego Monareng allegedly shot by a police officer at the Tshwane University of Technology

- Mlungisi Madonsela, allegedly shot by security guards at the Durban University of Technology

- Uyinene Mrwetyana, raped and murdered off the University of Cape Town campus

- An unnamed student mugged and shot dead just off the UJ campus

- Hannah Cornelius, carjacked, raped and bludgeoned to death near the Stellenbosch University campus

Suicides appear to have increased too, with reports of:

- 23 attempted suicides reported at the University of Pretoria in 2018

- 3 suicides reported at the University of the Witwatersrand in 2018 including those of Relobogile Pheto and Kago Mogoeng – the latter died after jumping from her residence building, while students below her chanted “jump, jump”

- 2 suicides at the University of the Western Cape within a short period during 2018

Violent protests have by no means come to an end with the arrival of fee free Higher Education for the poor, and recent reports include:

- The financial head of the University of the Free State being physically assaulted by angry students

- Teaching coming to a halt at Sefako Makgatho University as a result of student protests

- Tyre-burning protests at East Cape Midlands TVET College

- Seven arrests at Nelson Mandela University as a result of violent protests

- Stone-throwing and violence at Fort Hare University, resulting in injuries to several students, plus the public slaughter and dismembering of two stolen cows on the university campus

- The arrest of 9 DUT students for dousing a security guard with petrol and attempting to set him alight

- The shooting of a University of Zululand student near the University campus by criminals, followed by the burning of a satellite police station allegedly by students

Furthermore, gender based violence on campuses is now so widespread and serious that it has led the Ministry to address it specifically.

There are many other examples which together paint a picture of Universities as increasingly brutal, violent and unpleasant places to study and work. This reflects the general brutality of our society today. Importantly it works against the principle upon which Universities throughout the world operate – that they should be places of peaceful, contemplative learning and research.

Minister Blade Nzimande has, together with Vice Chancellors and others, agreed that this matter should be looked into, and Vice Chancellors have said they will  ”gather material” on the issue.  The Minister has promised to accelerate the building of proper residences for students to protect them from the violent communities in which they often live. They are addressing gender based violence separately.

However this is not enough. The approach is piecemeal and ad hoc. A much more integrated and systematic approach needs to be adopted. It is for this reason that the DA proposes the setting up of a formal, properly constituted Ministerial Commission on Violence and Trauma on University and College Campuses which will look at, amongst other things:

The underlying economic, political, social and cultural reasons for ongoing violence on and near campuses

How best to address these matters

How gender based violence may best be addressed in this context

The underlying factors leading to the epidemic of suicides and how to address them

The costs of providing better protection for students from each other and from outside criminals

The best way in which University security should be configured and deployed

The ideal levels of protection afforded to students against criminals on and off campus

Such a Commission would provide ample material and guidance to the Minister and to heads of institutions as to how best to reconfigure their campuses so as to reduce violence and encourage peaceful learning in our very troubled Universities and Colleges.

Issued by Belinda Bozzoli, DA Shadow Minister for Higher Education, Science and Technology, 25 September 2019