Following continued protests by students at the University of Zululand in Kwa-Zulu Natal, Police Minister, General Bheki Cele on Thursday 19 September 2019, held a series of meetings with stakeholders in an effort to address the security concerns raised by students.
The protests follow the shooting of a student from the institution during a house robbery off campus. The incident saw students stage violent protests where they blockaded main roads and disrupted teaching and learning at three local high schools. The satellite police station was also torched during the unrest.
The Minister has condemned the school closures and arson calling it unacceptable. “This is an act of criminality, those schools must be opened and pupils can’t be punished for issues they know nothing about. The authority of the State can’t be disrespected, no matter what the complaint is, those who have burnt the police station must be brought to book.”
In an effort to address the students concerns and resolve safety challenges on and off campus, General Cele held a meeting with Transport, Community Safety MEC in KwaZulu-Natal, Bheki Ntuli attended by the Institutions Management, Council and Head of security as well as the local Traditional Authority and the local police management.
The University has admitted to facing security challenges such as inadequate access control to the campus and environmental designs such as poor lighting on campus and on roads used by students to access the campus from nearby off campus places of residence.
The institution also admits that its surveillance system is not up to scratch.
Minister Cele has called on a strengthened working relationship between the University and the police service. He’s encouraged by the local SAPS task team that has been set up to look into crimes committed against students. The team has already produced results and has arrested wanted suspects who have been terrorising the student community. While the University management says its working on an integrated security plan of action to improve their internal security, however it’s raised concerns that 80 percent of their student population lives outside campus grounds and often embark in risky behavior which compromises their safety.
General Cele has called for an urgent follow up meeting which will see students form part of the discussions to combat crime in the area alongside University management, local traditional authority and landlords renting out their properties to students.
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