Mabuyane slams Fort Hare VC over crisis of killings
A total 12 students died at the university in 2019, mostly from suicide
Eastern Cape premier Oscar Mabuyane has blasted University of Fort Hare vice-chancellor Professor Sakhela Buhlungu for “relaxing” while the crisis of violence deepens at one of Africa’s respected universities.
Mabuyane said at the weekend that Buhlungu was nowhere to be found in the midst of the escalating violence affecting students at UFH.
The premier confirmed that Eastern Cape provincial commissioner Lieutenant-General Liziwe Ntshinga had been asked to look into the killings and violence at the Alice campus.
Fort Hare has had to deal with one student death after another in the past year. A total 12 students died at the university in 2019, mostly from suicide, prompting the SRC to call for the university to prioritise mental health systems for students.
The crisis deepened this weekend as Olwethu Tshefu, 30, became the second student to be stabbed to death in three weeks after the death of Yonela Boli, allegedly killed by his girlfriend Yolanda Nogemane on February 8.
Also on Saturday night, a 21year-old female student was raped off campus. The police have arrested a 48-year-old ANC councillor in the Raymond Mhlaba municipality in connection with the rape.
Provincial police spokesperson Brigadier Thembinkosi Kinana said the incident happened at a house in Golf Course suburb in Alice. The suspect will appear in court on Monday facing a charge of rape, said Kinana.
On Saturday, the university announced it would welcome all ideas on how to help young adults of the university overcome such trials.
Director for institutional advancement Tandi Mapukata said that what the university faced was a societal issue that required all hands on deck.
But Mabuyane was scathing in his criticism of the Fort Hare VC’s absence and his perceived silence over the crisis.
Mabuyane and UFH SRC premier Zenathi Mbenya both claimed to have tried in vain to reach Buhlungu in order to deal with the escalating violence affecting students.
Mabuyane accused the academic of “resting on his laurels” and being silent amid the chaos.
Buhlungu had failed to respond to messages sent three days ago seeking his plans on the crisis, Mabuyane added. Repeated efforts by the Dispatch to obtain a response from Buhlungu were also unsuccessful.
Mbenya said Buhlungu simply “ignored” his invitations to an urgent crisis meeting.
Mabuyane said: ” I am still waiting for his response. I have sent him messages of concern that were coming from many sectors. He has not yet responded — it’s very unfortunate because we don’t want leaders like that in the society.
“You don’t want people who are resting on their laurels, relaxed and taking their time while a crisis like this hits our shores. We’ve got to stand up — all of us.”
The premier urged Buhlungu “to begin to show serious leadership on matters like these. You can’t wait for three days for a vice-chancellor to respond.”
Director of the University of Cape Town’s Safety and Violence Initiative Dr Guy Lamb said the violence at Fort Hare highlights a management crisis and students taking advantage of a fragile environment.
“The risk of violence is very high when there is tension and the UFH is not in good space at the moment so there are probably high levels of stress among students and many may resort to consuming large amounts of alcohol; then disagreements happen and someone has a knife and it is usually one man stabs another man.”
Asked why people stab others, Lamb said: “When someone stabs someone it usually means they have a history of violence or experienced violence in a family home, either witnessed it or had been abused as a child or grew up in an area where they witnessed a lot of violence going on.” Lamb said Fort Hare should have “all sorts of conflict resolution mechanisms in place, which are not in place”.
Mabuyane said drug and alcohol abuse played a key role in the violence that has gripped the campus. “Universities are a microcosm of the community. The problems we see at Fort Hare mirror what is happening at community level.”
He said Ntshinga had a plan in motion for campus safety at Fort Hare.
Asked what the university needed to do, Lamb said the university needed to reduce access to alcohol. UCT had done well to overcome a scourge of campus student residence rapes, including distributing resources towards the campus protection services, as well as increased and improved access control.
Mabuyane urged students to withdraw calls for a campus showdown in the wake of the crisis. “Two wrongs don’t make a right. This is an academic year, if the students shut down the campus, they will struggle to recover.”
AbaThembu baseRhode King Dalimvula Matanzima has suggested that a traditional ritual be performed at the university to stop the killing of students while the provincial police commissioner has tasked a “campus safety” team to go to Fort Hare.
Matanzima was speaking during the funeral service of the slain UFH student, Boli, in Lower Seplan Village in Cala.