DUT: students off the hook, for now

Charges held pending investigations

PROTESTING Durban University of Technology (DUT) students who were arrested and charged with public violence had their case struck off the court’s roll yesterday.

KwaZulu-Natal police spokesperson Colonel Thembeka Mbele confirmed that the students made a brief appearance at the Durban Magistrate’s Court before the case was struck off the roll.

She said the matter was struck off pending further investigations.

Students at the university allegedly attacked security guards with stones and damaged administration offices on Tuesday.

According to the police, the protesters stoned the security guards and the institution’s administrative assistant sustained injuries.

The situation at the university worsened on Tuesday when a student, Mlungisi Madonsela, died after sustaining a gunshot wound allegedly fired by security guards while attempting to disperse the crowd.

Mbele said the murder and public violence cases would be transferred to the KwaZulu-Natal provincial headquarters of the organised crime unit.

Ethekwini mayor Zandile Gumede was accompanied by Bishop Vusi Dube who led a prayer service yesterday on the steps where Madonsela was shot.

Drops of blood could still be spotted on at least three of the steps leading to the Student Representative Council building opposite the institution’s Steve Biko campus.

Dube, who was representing the interfaith structure, prayed for Madonsela, his family and the injured students.

Gumede laid a wreath at the scene in memory of Madonsela.

The institution’s vice-chancellor, Professor Thandwa Mthembu, told the media on Wednesday that two security officers from Xcellent Security Services – a private company hired by DUT – were taken in for questioning by the police.

He said the officers carried weapons with live ammunition to fend off criminals who preyed on students in the vicinity, adding that the officers had acted outside their jurisdiction as they were not meant to deal with protesting students.

No arrests have been made as yet and calls to Xcellent Security Services went unanswered.

The SA Union of Students is expected to meet Higher Education Minister Naledi Pandor tomorrow.

Protests broke out at tertiary institutions across the province this week – the start of the academic year – when students boycotted classes.

Students are demanding that the universities allow students who qualify for the National Student Financial Aid Scheme to register even though the funding scheme has not yet paid out monies to the institutions.

They are also calling for “better and conducive” residences among other demands.