Alleged attacker got inside CPUT residence as 'guest of another student'

The man who allegedly stabbed his wife outside a privately owned university residence in Cape Town managed to get inside the premises to confront her by signing in as the guest of another student.

“CPUT [Cape Peninsula University of Technology] residences are living and learning spaces. We have implored our student body to use this incident as a lesson in taking responsibility for the guests they allow into these spaces, which at all times should be a place of safety,” the university said.

The 26-year-old tourism management student was filmed while being stabbed in full view of other students at the residence in Belhar on Saturday. Her husband, a student at the University of the Western Cape (UWC), aged 30, appeared in the Bellville magistrate’s court on Monday on a charge of attempted murder.

The man is not named here because a rape charge has subsequently been brought against him and he can only be named once he has pleaded.

“The victim has undergone emergency surgery and is recuperating. Her mother has now joined her and has requested privacy for her daughter to ensure her safety and healing,” the university said.

“The family is receiving emotional and logistical support from the institution as they navigate the next steps. The institution has been inundated with requests from politically aligned individuals to accommodate site visits at short notice. The university is focused on supporting the victim and her family and thinly veiled attempts at politicking at this young woman’s expense will not be entertained.”

This was in response to a statement by DA MP Chantel King saying the institution had rejected a formally requested parliamentary oversight visit by the party at CPUT after the gender-based violence incident.

The party insisted it would nevertheless conduct an oversight visit on Wednesday.

Addressing concerns about how the alleged attacker gained access to the residence, CPUT said: “We are confident a review of the incident has not revealed security breaches. The perpetrator gained access to the privately owned residence by being a guest of another student and signing in via the normal procedure.”

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