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The shooting and killing of a Durban University of Technology student by a member of the security staff on the institution’s premises has prompted the portfolio committee on higher education to call on the private security regulatory body to explore improved methods of controlling students when they protest on campuses.
Chairperson of the committee, Connie September, has also threatened to summon the private security companies before Parliament.
Mlungisi Madonsela’s tragic death on Tuesday came after ongoing protests by students at the University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban University of Technology, Mangosuthu University of Technology and the University of Zululand.
The protests led to the shutdown of campuses after the National Student Financial Aid Scheme had failed to pay their allowances and as such students were unable to register.
September said that it was a tragedy to lose a student in this way and that the use of force to control protesting students must stop.
“The committee calls for a thorough investigation into the cause of the death of the student, especially the use of live ammunition and who gave the order to shoot. The private security regulatory body should also investigate improved methods of controlling students when they protest on campuses,” she said.
According to a Durban student who witnessed the shooting but did not want to be named for fear of victimisation by the institution, the man who shot and killed Madonsela usually carried three guns but had two on him on the day of the incident.
“The man who shot him works for the school, but I think he might be a supervisor of some sort because he doesn’t wear the same security uniform as the other guards,” he said.
According to the eyewitness, a disagreement between the university’s student leadership and the man in question was what led to the tragic incident.
“We were having our meeting to discuss the memorandum we had just delivered to the vice-chancellor of the university on Monday. The gentleman wanted to enter a building where the student representative council offices are – which we call Open House – and we asked him not to,” he said.
“He used pepper spray on some of us and that is when the group approached him. I then heard three shots and after a while I realised that Mlu [as he was affectionately known] had been shot. Some of the people we were with got him to City Hospital, but about 45 minutes later we got a call that he had died.”
‘Guns on campus are for the safety of students’
The university’s vice-chancellor, Thandwa Mthembu, corroborated the witness’s account regarding the firearms, and told City Press that some members of their security staff are permitted to carry guns.
“We have about 250 security [personnel] across all seven of our campuses and only six of them carry guns. Those six are actually supervisors who are from an outsourced security company called Xcellent Security,” he said.
The reason for allowing outsourced security personnel to carry firearms was for the safety of the students, Mthembu said, because some of their campuses were located in unsafe areas.
“In this particular instance Steve Biko Road [a road that runs through the institution] is a public road which leads to a taxi rank. There are lots of people and sometimes students get mugged at gunpoint and these security officers with firearms are dispatched to assist them,” he said.
“On the day of the incident, it was said that a scuffle broke out between students and staff members, who were being attacked with bricks. This must have prompted a call for security staff and those with firearms heeded the call too. It was a tragic incident.”
Mthembu told City Press that there were two security officers with firearms when the shooting took place.
“Police took both men in for questioning on Tuesday,” he said.
Private Security Industry Regulatory Authority chief executive Manabela Chauke said that they were investigating the shooting.
“I have instructed our senior law enforcement officers to immediately probe this case. On behalf of the authority, I would like to convey our condolences to the bereaved family,” he said.
Chauke said that a statement would be issued once the investigation was concluded.
Similarly, KwaZulu-Natal South African Police Services spokesperson Colonel Thembeka Mbele said that the circumstances under which the incident took place were being investigated.
“A case of murder and one of public violence were opened and the matter was transferred to the provincial organised crime task team,” she said.
“The firearms of the two security officers were also taken from them for ballistic [testing] purposes.”
University of KwaZulu-Natal student representative council president Sanele Hlongwa said that the fight for accommodation, registration and funding should continue in memory of Madonsela.
“It would be a betrayal to Mlu if we surrendered to the police or the universities. We must achieve what we have been fighting for. The struggle must continue,” he said.
Last year a Tshwane University of Technology student was shot and killed at the university’s Soshanguve campus in Pretoria.
It was reported that the student was shot dead‚ allegedly by police‚ following unrest which erupted after student council elections at the university were said to be rigged.
According to Mthembu, the university would remain closed until further notice.
Meanwhile, during his state of the nation address on Thursday evening, President Cyril Ramaphosa expressed his condolences to Madonsela’s family and called upon the “law enforcement agencies to thoroughly investigate the incident”.
