Petition to recall Wits’s Habib as UN ambassador

Following an alleged rape incident at a residence, a petition has been put out for University of the Witwatersrand Vice Chancellor, Professor Adam Habib, to step down as the United Nations HeForShe impact Champion.

HeForShe is a solidarity movement, under UN Women in the United Nations organisation, dedicated to gender equality and the empowerment of women.

The petition called for the attention of Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka, the executive director of UN Women, to remove Habib as an ambassador due to what students said was a delayed response to the matter.

At the Wits Junction residence in Parktown, students said a female student was raped by another student more than three weeks ago and when she reported the matter to management and security, she was ignored and the perpetrator remained on campus.

It is alleged the female student tried to commit suicide and the perpetrator was allowed to stay because was writing his exams.

Residence manager Thokozani Manyange was recorded on camera saying that “if you knew the details of the matter you would not feel unsafe”, which students didn’t respond well to.

Director of campus housing and residence life, Rob Sharman, was also present and addressed students.

The Wits students representative council said that they did not condone any forms of sexual violence and slammed the university for failing to act.

“The council notes with great dismay at the incident [and] strongly condemns any form of rape and is disappointed that the university hasn’t acted faster on the matter. We urge students who are affected by such incidents to approach the council for assistance,” the body said on its Twitter account.

Along with the petition, the students have demanded that the university commits to resolutions that were drawn up in a meeting held at Wits Junction on November 17:

1. Once a rape is reported the perpetrator must be removed from the residence pending investigations;

2. Management must account for its continued failure to address sexual violence in practical terms;

3. The student council, all residence council, all faculty council and all other relevant student bodies must be involved in the creation and implementation of a new policy;

4. The role of the Gender Equity Office must be clearly defined the office must be capacitated with necessary resources to fulfil its mandate; and

5. As vice-chancellor, Adam Habib was complicit in the protection of rape culture he must therefore must resign as a HeForShe University Impact champion.

Habib has since called for the assistance of Nomboniso Gasa, a noted researcher and gender activist, to review what the incident was, whether the structures of the university were appropriately abided by and are responsive to the rape complainant’s needs and concerns.

The student council was, however, not pleased with the appointment.

It believed that “the body being investigated cannot be entrusted with the task of appointing a reliable and unbiased arbitrator”.

Habib said he’d spoken to the complainant and her mother to get their perspectives on what the issues were.

The university was expected to release Gasa’s report, by Friday, on its official’s conduct during and after the rape complaint was laid.

The petition, meanwhile, had garnered 253 signatures and aimed to reach a target of 300.

Ndileka Lujabe Journalist City Press p: +27 11 713 9001 w: www.citypress.co.za  e: ndileka.lujabe@citypress.co.za