Durban - “Words cannot describe the anger, despair and sense of injustice that the students are feeling, knowing that the perpetrator is still roaming around the streets.”
These were the sentiments of a student who was first on the scene when Mangosuthu University of Technology (MUT) student Xolile Mbatha was found dead, lying in a pool of blood, in one of the rooms at the Ark Royal residence last Sunday morning.
Mbatha, 23, an electrical engineering student was stabbed by a man, alleged to be her boyfriend, following a domestic altercation at the MUT’s externally leased residences based in Durban.
Describing the scene, the student, who did not want to be named, said it was one he wished he had not witnessed. He said the suspect, who is also a student, had tried to gain entry on the Saturday evening, but was denied access by security guards.
“The next morning, he managed to gain entry just before visitation hours, where he brutally attacked Mbatha in front of her room-mate and fled,” he explained.
The student, who is a residential adviser, called the emergency services. He visited Mbatha’s family on Wednesday at their home in uMsinga. “One cannot describe the sadness that the family is currently enduring.
Her father questioned us about what type of a human being would do what the killer had done to his daughter,” he said. Tired of what it deemed as a “snail’s pace investigation”, the Student Representative Council (SRC) led by the EFF embarked on a peaceful march on Friday.
The march, which started from Durban’s Point police station to the South Beach police station, was aimed at seeking justice for Mbatha and also to address other security concerns. After delivering their memorandum of demands, the students held a night vigil in memory of Mbatha.
Mbatha was laid to rest in uMsinga yesterday. Lieutenant-Colonel Nqobile Gwala, provincial police spokesperson, said the matter was still under investigation and confirmed that no arrest had been made. Another student, who did not want to be named, said Mbatha’s death had shocked them. “We are not okay.
In 2018, a female student, Zolile Khumalo, was shot and killed by her boyfriend inside the residence I was residing in. She literally stayed next door to me. “On Sunday morning, I woke up to the news that another student was stabbed to death by her alleged boyfriend, who lives in the room next to mine. I’m so traumatised. I don’t even know what to say. Women continue to lose their lives at the hands of men,” she said.
Mbatha’s killing comes four years after the death of another MUT student, Zolile Khumalo, 21, who was shot by her boyfriend, Thabani Mzolo, in 2018. Mzolo was sentenced to life imprisonment in 2020. MUT spokesperson Bheki Hlophe said the university was not in a position to divulge any information about the alleged killer.
“However, the security systems are the responsibility of the landlord who the institution has leased to, to make sure that safety precautions are adhered to for the sake of all students,” he said. Earlier this week, the KwaZuluNatal MEC for Social Development, Nonhlanhla Khoza, said acts of women abuse were totally unacceptable.
“South Africa is a country that has a Constitution that puts a high value on human rights, with a strong emphasis on gender equity. We have also enacted laws to ensure that people who violate women’s rights are given jail sentences that fit their crimes.
“However, incidents of women abuse continue to plague our society, which means we need to devise new ways to ensure protection of women,” said Khoza.
SUNDAY TRIBUNE