Family hears of DUT student’s death through brother

News of the death of a Durban University of Technology (DUT) student who was shot during a protest on Tuesday was broken to his family by his brother before university management could officially inform them.

This was revealed by DUT vice-chancellor and principal Professor Thandwa Mthembu during a media briefing in Umhlanga on Wednesday in the wake of the violent student protest.

Third-year student Mlungisi Madonsela was shot dead during a scuffle between members of the EFF Students Command and security guards at DUT during ongoing protests over accommodation‚ registration‚ funding and the insourcing of security.

“The family perhaps got to know about this before we could officially let them know.

“We understood that the matter had already been on Twitter and on Facebook‚ including the identity of Mlungisi‚ and that the family got to know through Mlungisi’s brother‚ who is reported to be a student at the Mangosuthu University of Technology‚” said Mthembu..

“We do understand that as a brother‚ he would probably have known almost immediately about what had happened to his brother. But we are sorry nevertheless that we were not the first to inform the family‚ as a result of social media and many other things.”

He said the university made contact with his family once there had been confirmation that Madonsela had died.

He said a team from the university’s student services department had been dispatched to Madonsela’s home in Ing- wavuma‚ in northern KZN‚ to assess the circumstances of the family and consider what type of support to offer them.

“We hope that by the end of the day they will come back with a report about that‚ for the university to then make an assessment of the level of support we could provide to the family‚” said Mthembu.

● Acting KZN premier Sihle Zikalala led a discussion on protests at institutions of higher learning throughout the province during a regular sitting of the provincial executive council on Wednesday.