Emotions run high at memorial service for DUT youngster killed in campus altercation with security personnel
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MPHATHI NXUMALO
THE FAMILY of Durban University of Technology (DUT) student Mlungisi Madonsela who was shot dead during the student protests last week still have many questions about how he died.
This arose during Madonsela’s memorial service yesterday at the university’s Ritson Hall, which was filled with family and friends.
Madonsela’s uncle Xolani Ncanana said the family was still traumatised over their loved one’s shooting death.
“We do not know what happened on the day as there are so many stories,” he said.
Tertiary education institutions were rocked by protests last week with various campuses having to close. The protest action was held to demand the speeding up of the registration process and for students not be financially excluded.
Ncanana said Madonsela’s death left them shocked and confused.
He struggled to contain his emotion while speaking about his nephew and said Madonsela was a humble person who cared about the well-being of others, and wanted to improve the living conditions of his family and those of the Jozini community.
He said a post-mortem was conducted and three bullets were removed from his body.
“At the end of the day, justice must be done,” Ncanana said.
The family planned to hold his funeral tomorrow at their home in Jozini, northern KwaZulu-Natal.
Ncanana was one of several speakers
DURBAN University of Technology vice-chancellor Professor Themba Mthembu was not given an opportunity to speak yesterday at the memorial service for student Mlungisi Madonsela, right. Mthembu was the last speaker at the event but when he got on to the stage, students went towards him and started singing and dancing. He eventually left the podium and the hall. | DOCTOR NGCOBO / AFRICAN NEWS AGENCY (ANA) at the memorial service. Among them were DUT vice-chancellor Professor Themba Mthembu and EFF KZN chairperson Vusi Khoza.However, some speakers never got the chance to address the service as they were deliberately drowned out by singing students. Mthembu, the last speaker, had to be escorted out of the hall when it became apparent the students would not let him speak.Khoza then told the crowd that they would not have allowed a “murderer” to speak.DUT student representative council president Sesiyanda Godlimpi demanded that Madonsela’s killers be arrested and that his death should be the last at the institution.He said that DUT’s management should listen to students’ demands.Godlimpi added that the university had the responsibility to protect students from harm.
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