‘Only six’ pack guns

Six out of 250 guards at the Durban University of Technology (DUT) campuses throughout KwaZulu-Natal are armed, vice-chancellor Thandwa Mthembu said yesterday.

“There have been muggings at gunpoint, knife point … so we have six security guards out of a team of about 250 members across our seven campuses that carry guns, mainly for guarding the perimeter of the campuses where muggings and other crimes take place,” he said.

Mthembu, along with other senior managers, was addressing the media at the Coastlands Hotel in Umhlanga following the death of student Mlungisi Madonsela, who was shot at the Steve Biko campus after an altercation with DUT security guards on Tuesday.

“I am truly sorry that this happened on our doorstep; our campus. I hope we will all give the deserved respect to Mlungisi and his family as his family grapples with this terrible loss,” said Mthembu.

He said the university condemned “the use of live ammunition in the strongest possible terms, especially at a university campus”.

“We will certainly act swiftly once the authorities have completed their investigations. The members of the security personnel that were involved were taken in for questioning by police.”

Students at tertiary education institutions across the province embarked on a “total shutdown” on Monday as they protested late or no government funding, accommodation shortages and other issues.

While DUT was relatively calm on Monday, the University of KwaZulu-Natal had vehicles torched at its Westville and Howard College campuses. A guard hut was also burned down at the Westville campus. UKZN closed all of its campuses following the violence.

Students at DUT had been protesting a shortage of accommodation and the state of outsourced residences, which are leased by service providers.

Mthembu said in 2018, about 50% of DUT’s students were supported by government’s National Student Financial Aid Scheme (NSFAS). DUT had about 13 000 beds available for about 30 000 students, he said.

By 2019, the institution had “more than doubled” the number of beds.

“In effect, we have organised beds for 44% of our student body.” – ANA