Policing of the Walter Sisulu University campus would be intensified, deputy minister of police Bongani Mkongi warned yesterday.
Speaking in the wake of the killing of final-year medical student Lwando Mantshontsho, Mkongi said bringing safety back to the campus was now top of his priority list.
“Police will be ready to ensure this place is safe. They will be doing random raids of the campuses and residences to ensure safety.
“They will not announce when they will raid the university. The safety of this place is a real concern and should be treated as such.
“We have to root out all the criminal activities on campus,” the deputy minister said.
He was accompanied by Mthatha SAPS top brass and WSU executives yesterday morning on his visit to see for himself the extent of damage caused by the student violence.
“We are going to make sure that there is visible policing here in order to strengthen security in and around this campus. We will also mobilise students against crime here,” he said.
He announced a national summit on campus and school safety for all stakeholders in South Africa to be held in July.
This summit would be used to generate a safety strategy for campuses and schools.
Mkongi said that some students had become criminals, killing and robbing others and threatening campus safety.
“Some are armed with guns and knives instead of being armed with pens and laptops,” he said.
The minister later held a meeting with various stakeholders of the university to find better ways to deal with the problems facing the institution. Afterwards he also went to visit the home of Mantshontsho in Cofimvaba to offer his condolences to the family and console them.
WSU student affairs executive director Zoleka Dotwana said historic disadvantaged institutions such as WSU suffered from a dire shortage of funds.
“Our residents do not have the necessary security using thumbprints to gain access as that is very expensive,” Dotwana said.
She said they had just received grants and were now able to install a number of security features.
Campuses were also being hit by vandalism from protesting students who always damaged either fencing of some other security element on the campus.
“A number of perimeter fences and doors are damaged, making it difficulty for security to guard exit points of which there are more than 150 on this campus alone,” she said.
Dotwana said they had received an R80-million grant from the Department of Higher Education to upgrade infrastructure, including security.
Dotwana said the abuse of alcohol by students on campus was contributing immensely to campus crime. She added that they would look into ways to deal with that.
“We are truly saddened by this event . It’s a very bad incident for the institution,” Dotwana said.
Five students facing charges of murder, assault with intent to do grievous bodily harm and malicious damage to property appeared in the Mthatha Magistrate’s Court on Monday. The case was postponed to May 26. They remain in custody. — lulamilef@dispatch.co.za
Safety is a high priority
Speaking in the wake of the killing of final-year medical student Lwando Mantshontsho, Mkongi said bringing safety back to the campus was now top of his priority list.
“Police will be ready to ensure this place is safe. They will be doing random raids of the campuses and residences to ensure safety.
“They will not announce when they will raid the university. The safety of this place is a real concern and should be treated as such.
“We have to root out all the criminal activities on campus,” the deputy minister said.
He was accompanied by Mthatha SAPS top brass and WSU executives yesterday morning on his visit to see for himself the extent of damage caused by the student violence.
“We are going to make sure that there is visible policing here in order to strengthen security in and around this campus. We will also mobilise students against crime here,” he said.
He announced a national summit on campus and school safety for all stakeholders in South Africa to be held in July.
This summit would be used to generate a safety strategy for campuses and schools.
Mkongi said that some students had become criminals, killing and robbing others and threatening campus safety.
“Some are armed with guns and knives instead of being armed with pens and laptops,” he said.
The minister later held a meeting with various stakeholders of the university to find better ways to deal with the problems facing the institution. Afterwards he also went to visit the home of Mantshontsho in Cofimvaba to offer his condolences to the family and console them.
WSU student affairs executive director Zoleka Dotwana said historic disadvantaged institutions such as WSU suffered from a dire shortage of funds.
“Our residents do not have the necessary security using thumbprints to gain access as that is very expensive,” Dotwana said.
She said they had just received grants and were now able to install a number of security features.
Campuses were also being hit by vandalism from protesting students who always damaged either fencing of some other security element on the campus.
“A number of perimeter fences and doors are damaged, making it difficulty for security to guard exit points of which there are more than 150 on this campus alone,” she said.
Dotwana said they had received an R80-million grant from the Department of Higher Education to upgrade infrastructure, including security.
Dotwana said the abuse of alcohol by students on campus was contributing immensely to campus crime. She added that they would look into ways to deal with that.
“We are truly saddened by this event . It’s a very bad incident for the institution,” Dotwana said.
Five students facing charges of murder, assault with intent to do grievous bodily harm and malicious damage to property appeared in the Mthatha Magistrate’s Court on Monday. The case was postponed to May 26. They remain in custody. — lulamilef@dispatch.co.za
Would you like to comment on this article?
Register (it's quick and free) or sign in now.
Please read our Comment Policy before commenting.
Trending Now
Latest Videos