WSU staffer, family rescued after deadly shooting

A Walter Sisulu University residence manager and his family were rescued by police after a confrontation with protesting students at the Nelson Mandela Drive campus in Mthatha, during which the manager allegedly shot dead one student and wounded two others.

The students then allegedly set the staff member’s car on fire and attacked his wife, who later had to be admitted to hospital.

Provincial police spokesperson Brig Nobuntu Gantana said: “Students mobilised on Monday evening as they complained about the bad state of their residence.

“At about 7am on Tuesday, they went to the residence manager, who stays within the institution with his family, to confront him about the poor state of their residence.

He added that it is alleged that the residence manager shot at some male students and one was killed and another was rushed to hospital for medical care.

“It is further reported that students mobilised and in the process the residence manager’s car was set alight and his wife was hit on the head with a hard object. The family was rescued by Mthatha Public Order Policing.”

Police said no-one had been arrested as angry protesters had prevented them from accessing the campus and crime scene or interviewing witnesses.

When a Dispatch team arrived at the campus, more than 100 students, mostly with their faces covered, sang Senzeni na? (“what did we do?”) a few metres from the gates while armed police kept watch on the road entering the campus from the N2.

Students claimed management had been ignoring their complaints.

SRC member Themba Zikhali said the shooting victim was in the third year of a teaching degree, but this version was challenged by the university.

“We are calling on the government to intervene. We have been protesting about residence issues and a lack of maintenance.

“We do not have water and Wi-Fi and yet we pay more than R40,000,” Zikhali said.

WSU spokesperson Yonela Tukwayo denied that the shooting victim was a student.

“This individual is not a registered student or a staff member of the university.

“Authorities are working to determine the identity of the deceased and the reason for their involvement in the incident,” she said.

Tukwayo said the protests had taken the university by surprise.

“Initial engagements with the ISRC [institutional student representative council] have revealed that the leadership was unaware of any planned protest action by students.

“The cause of the unrest remains unclear and investigations are under way.

“Disturbingly, during the course of the protest, a group of people and students forcefully entered a staff member’s on-campus residence.

“In this violent incident, the staff member’s wife sustained serious injuries.”

She said the university management strongly condemned violence and disruptions that placed lives and safety of the staff and students at risk and remained open to engagement with the students.

A staff member, who did not want to be named, insisted the shooting victim had been a student, but that he had been unable to register so far this year because he owed the university money.

However, he said, the university often dealt with special cases and the council and SRC had raised millions of rand to help indebted students.

“He was one of the special cases and was in the process of registering.”

Zikhali said the students had launched protests on the campus and had gone to one of the residences to fetch other students when the manager came out and allegedly started firing on them.

A female student who covered her face to conceal her identity claimed they had gone to see the residence manager and were told by his wife he was in East London.

However, he later emerged and allegedly started shooting.

“Those were not warning shots to force the students to run away.

“He was [allegedly] shooting directly at them intentionally. We are crying [in this university] but no-one hears our cries,” she said.

She said the students were planning to embark on a peaceful shutdown of the campus, claiming their residences were dilapidated..

Another student said the protesters were frustrated by what they described as university management’s lax attitude towards their problems.

The South African Students Congress provincial task team condemned the shooting.

“This heinous act has claimed the life of one student and left others injured — an unthinkable tragedy that has sent shock waves through the entire student community,” it said in a statement.

“The most painful and infuriating reality is that this act of violence unfolded during a peaceful and disciplined march, where students were rightfully raising their voices against ongoing issues on campus, including poor living conditions, safety concerns and administrative inefficiencies.

“Instead of being met with engagement and solutions, these students were met with bullets.”

Sasco said: “To make matters worse, the person allegedly responsible for the killing is not an outsider or criminal intruder, but a university staff member entrusted with the care and safety of the very students he has now harmed.

“This is a betrayal of the highest order ... We demand the immediate and permanent dismissal of this individual.

“Let it be known this was a peaceful protest, and a student was [allegedly] murdered. No spin, no justification, no excuse can erase that fact.

“We will not mourn in silence. We will not be intimidated into submission. The blood of a student has been spilt — and we demand justice, not tomorrow, but now.”

University convocation spokesperson Azola Mzwendaba said while it recognised that there might have been a problem between the university and the students, it condemned the use of violence to solve issues.

“Consequences must be faced. We condemn the shooting of students.

“Whenever problems are raised [with] us as the convocation, we try to play a mediator role.”

He said the convocation was disappointed by the incident as it had muddied the good reputation the university was beginning to forge.

Community safety MEC Xolile Nqatha described the incident as unfortunate, saying universities were academic spaces for learning and not violence.

He said when issues arose, people needed to sit down and find an amicable solution.