Source: Daily Dispatch
I thought some1 might want to know what is happening in the Eastern Cape.
Do not crucify me if u dnt find this article interesting.
People I was a student for one year at WSU then went to NMMU, the fighting during SRC elections has become a habit to the higher learning students
Walter Sisulu University has temporarily closed its two campuses in Mthatha after a student activist was shot dead.
The shooting – by a security guard – came after a violent clash between two rival student organisations over an election dispute.
According to police spokesperson Superintendent Mzukisi Fatyela, the 23-year-old student was killed on Sunday just before noon.
The student – a member of the Pan African Student Movement of Azania (Pasma) – was shot in his back, following clashes between his organisation and the South African Student Congress (Sasco) over disputed Student Representative Council (SRC) elections on the Zamukulungisa campus .
He died on the spot after being shot by the security guard who was trying to disperse the crowd.
The student has not been identified as his next-of-kin have not yet been informed of his death.
The guard was subsequently arrested and yesterday appeared in court on a murder charge, Fatyela said.
He was not asked to plead and the case was postponed.
It was not clear how or why the guard was armed with lethal force, or whether this was condoned by the university.
Yesterday the situation was tense at both Nelson Mandela Drive (NMD) and Zamukulungisa campuses.
Their closure comes less than a week before students sit for their final examinations.
Pasma members from both campuses, who converged at the Zamukulungisa site, said the student was killed as he tried to flee from violence and intimidation at the NMD campus.
One student claimed that though Sasco won the elections there were “serious irregularities” in the election at both sites.
“We found a Sasco member with four ballot papers instead of two,” said Chuma Ngceke, chairperson (Pasma) at Zamukulungisa.
Siva Makhaphala, a Pasma member at NMD, said they were intimidated and others were threatened with murder by some Sasco members, who were claiming that no one would stand in their way.
Attempts to talk to Xolisani Malindo, Sasco leader and SRC president at Zamukulungisa, were unsuccessful as his phone was switched off.
He was also not in his vandalised residence room when the Dispatch visited the campus yesterday morning.
But Andy Majeke, SRC president at NMD and a Sasco member, hit back at Pasma, saying the violence erupted when about 700 students were allegedly held hostage for 45 minutes by Pasma members.
Vice-chancellor Professor Marcus Balintulo responded by closing the campuses, giving the students two hours to pack up and leave the premises by 2.30pm.
A memorandum from Balintulo read: “This violence, resulting from an atmosphere of tense relations among various student political organisations, has seriously affected the normal operations of the university.”
During a Dispatch visit to both sites yesterday the situation remained tense and there was a strong police presence.
In some student residences at Zamukulungisa, doors, windows and personal belongings such as television sets were broken.
There were also blood stains on some of the walls .
Students at both sites expressed frustration over the closure of the campuses because it had come so close to the start of them writing examinations next week.
The university’s spokesperson, Tanya Smith, said management had decided to close both campuses as it was concerned about the safety of the students.
“An extended management meeting is to take place … (last night) to discuss the current situation in the Mthatha campus,” added Smith.
SOURCE: Daily Dispatch
23 Comments
Only TVSA members can reply to this thread. Click here to login or register.