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This afternoon hundreds of mourners gathered at the Wits Great Hall in honour of the seven Wits students who were killed when the taxi they were travelling in caught alight after it hit a trailer.
The students were returning from a Zion Christian Church (ZCC) pilgrimage this weekend in Moletjie, just outside Polokwane.
Fasiha Hassan, secretary-general of the Wits student representative council (SRC) told City Press that the event was held to give people a space to mourn.
“It’s to give people a chance to come to terms with what has happened and a physical space to mourn. A loss to one is a loss to all,” Hassan said.
About 250 people gathered outside the Linder Auditorium at the Education Campus, at which two of the students who were killed in the accident had studied.
After a series of songs, the crowd made their way to the Wits Great Hall, where a crowd of about 600 people had already gathered. Emotions were high as the victims were remembered by friends.
Pictures by Leon Sadiki and Zahra Haider
Wits SRC president Nompendulo Mkatshwa told the crowd that it was unfortunate that the gathering was being held, but that it was important to remember them.
“When these students left the university, they should have left having walked through these stairs and up the stairs of the Great Hall stage ... But we still give them the dignity of being commemorated and celebrated and remembered by the community of Wits University. In our process of mourning we walked from the education campus through the streets they may have walked to class and we’ve brought their spirits and the thoughts that we had of them to these stairs,” Mkatshwa said.
Thabo Boom, the deputy secretary-general of the SRC expressed his sorrow at the loss of the young lives.
“Life will not be the same without them. In our daily activities we must remember them as people who made a difference in our lives. Try hard to celebrate the role they played in our individual lives,” he said.
Acting vice-chancellor, Professor Andrew Crouch, spoke on behalf of the university as Professor Adam Habib was unable to attend the afternoon’s proceedings.
“As a Wits community, I think we all feel the pain. We must celebrate the lives of those who have fallen. The community gathering today is testimony to how we remember those who have fallen,” Crouch said.
The mood on campus was sombre and those who attended brought candles and flowers which were laid on the steps of the Great Hall. A white five-metre piece of material was held up by five students. It had the words “Remember Wits 7” across it in black paint.
This was placed on a table so students and staff could write their own messages of support and love for the victims and their families. It was handed over to the ZCC as a keepsake for the students whose lives were lost.
The process of identifying the bodies is still under way.
The loss of the students in the accident came after a series of road-related tragedies – 237 people were killed on South Africa’s roads between April 29 and May 2 this year.
