DUT student gunned down during protest

Classes suspended until further notice

A THIRD-YEAR business administration student at the Durban University of Technology was fatally shot yesterday afternoon, allegedly by campus security who opened fire on the students as they protested.

Ayanda Mbatha, a fellow student and friend of the dead man, said the incident occurred when they gathered in numbers and were singing at about 3pm. She said campus security arrived to disperse them.

“The security guards were provoking the students with their guns and so students began throwing stones at them. We heard three gunshots being fired and we all ran,” she said.

Mbatha said she looked back and saw her friend lying on the ground.

“When I ran to him, I thought he had fainted, but I saw blood everywhere. He was shot in the back,” she said.

The students stopped a passing vehicle and asked the driver to take them to City Hospital near the campus. Mbatha said some of the students’ friends carried him to the car.

“At about 4.30pm I got a call from the hospital telling me my friend was dead. We are so sad and we cannot believe it. This was not meant to happen,” she cried.

She said his friends had notified the student’s family, who were travelling from Jozini last night.

“I think his two sisters, who live in Durban, have also been notified and will go to the residence to collect his belongings before going to the hospital,” she said last night.

It is believed that students gathered on the road outside the Steve Biko campus shortly after meeting the student representative council (SRC), which provided feedback from university management.

According to Mbatha, the SRC told them that university management promised to meet all their requirements by Wednesday next week.

She said students were angry at DUT’s management “because they believed they were lying to us”.

“How can issues that have been raised for so long now magically be sorted in a few days? The students believed that management wasted the SRC’s time and were lying to students,” a tearful Mbatha said.

She said she was traumatised, and her friends and fellow students were in mourning. Some were inconsolable.

“We are so sad. We know we are fighting a genuine struggle because some students don’t have a place to sleep, the residences are not conducive to live in and we are also fighting for security to be employed by the university and not privately.”

Mbatha added that in previous protests, police would arrive with teargas and pepper spray but never used their guns on students.

EFF regional chairperson Mlebuka Hlengwa condemned the shooting. He confirmed that the student was a member of the EFF Student Command.

Hlengwa said the party’s leaders were angry and were arranging to meet with students this week regarding various issues at the university.

“We believe that this mess at institutions is being deliberately aggravated by university management, who are all ANC-aligned. They are trying to get students back to the ANC,” Hlengwa said.

The institution’s spokesperson, Alan Khan, confirmed that a student had died. But he said he could not confirm the cause of death or provide details of the incident. He said DUT management had decided to close the institution until further notice.

“The cause of death and details of the incident are not yet clear as the matter is still subject to a preliminary investigation by police officials.

“The student passed on while receiving medical attention at the City Hospital in Durban,” Khan said.

The student’s name, known to The Mercury, has been withheld until his family is formally told.