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The DA Students Organisation (DASO) is horrified and saddened by the passing of 18-year-old Sandile Ndlovu today after he was attacked at the Durban University of Technology (DUT) last week Friday.

We send our heartfelt condolences to his family and will provide all the necessary support to ensure that Sandile’s brutal attack is investigated as a matter of urgency and that swift justice prevails.

DASO DUT will be writing to campus management to demand that the security of students is made an urgent priority. We will request a concrete plan of action and commitment by the campus, not lip service.

DASO calls on the university to implement immediate security measures to screen those entering the campus, as well as to deploy more security personnel on campus to ensure the safety of students.

The installation of surveillance cameras on campus and in lecture halls is a great necessity and long overdue. The existing security has been far too lackadaisical with people (as well as weapons) freely entering and leaving the campus without stringent checks of student cards.

The maintenance of campus buildings is also a grave concern: broken light bulbs in corridors and passages leave students vulnerable as these are areas where they may be easily ambushed and attacked. Universities should be safe spaces and not war zones.

The safety of young people should be a priority on our campuses.

DASO DUT Chairperson, Sakhile Mngadi, had taken up the call for an upgrade in security measures with DUT in the wake of violence against students earlier this year. This, however, fell on deaf ears and now another young life has been brutally extinguished.

DASO will be holding a picket on Monday 16 September 2019 at 10:00 outside the DUT main gate to demand that DUT take urgent and immediate steps to upgrade security measures on campus and that there is justice for Sandile and his family.

We call on students and the public to join us in our stand to end violence against young people.

Issued by DA