An election victory celebration ended in tragedy at Walter Sisulu University in the Eastern Cape when a student was stabbed and killed at the Nelson Mandela Drive campus in Mthatha on Sunday morning.
The deceased was the second Eastern Cape university student to be murdered in the space of a weekend.
On Saturday, Rhodes University student Amanda Tweyi was shot and killed in what the police suspect was a murder-suicide in a Rhodes men's residence.
Her boyfriend - Nkosinathi Nqabisa, 34, from King William's Town - also died from what seemed to be a self-inflicted wound to the head.
Walter Sisulu University student Sandiso Mfihlo was stabbed in the neck, apparently while trying to stop a brawl involving a friend .
Mfihlo was among the 1000 or so who packed the AC Jordan Hall to celebrate the Pan Africanist Student Movement of Azania's election victory.
Eyewitnesses claim Mfihlo toppled over a balcony after being stabbed.
Mfihlo's half-brother Siyambonga, alleged the university had failed to institute the necessary safety measures, claiming there were no security guards despite the prevalence of alcohol at the celebration.
University spokesman Thando Cezula said they were investigating the "unfortunate" incident and could not comment further.
Higher Education and Training Minister Blade Nzimande said: "The lives of the two students were cut short through actions that could have been prevented. It is unthinkable that such acts of cruelty could happen in institutions where security ought to be heightened to the maximum."
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