UniZulu scheduled for security upgrade

Published Mar 25, 2015

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Durban - The University of Zululand is one of four universities that have been prioritised by the Department of Higher Education and Training for security upgrades.

An alleged gang rape at the university’s East Block residence on Friday has prompted concerns that universities were not doing enough to prevent campus attacks on women.

The student was allegedly raped by three men in one of the suspects’ dormitories. The suspects have been arrested and are due to appear in court soon.

Department spokesman, Khaye Nkwanyana, said on Tuesday that “previously disadvantaged” institutions of higher learning had been prioritised by being allocated R2 billion each for upgrades, to be spread over the next five years.

They are UniZul, Fort Hare, Venda and the Tshwane University of Technology.

”This is not the first… report about such an occurrence there; this is at least the third. It is disappointing because Minister (Blade) Nzimande has instructed institutions to upgrade their security systems as a matter of priority and has allocated money,” he said.

Security went beyond just hiring a security company and having people stand at the gates letting cars in and out, he said.

“There has to be modern IT and detective systems in place to ensure that students are safe, especially girls. We can’t have parents worrying about the safety of their children in a place that should in fact be a safe one.”

Cape Town-based communications officer at Rape Crisis Cape Town Trust, Sandile Ndelu, said ascertaining the extent of rape on most South African campuses was difficult.

The organisation is the oldest in South Africa supporting the recovery of rape survivors.

“First, there seems an unwillingness at most universities to recognise and take action against the problem of rape culture and sexual assaults. As such, there has not been any real effort to investigate the numbers behind the issues,” Ndelu said.

“In the cases where universities did have such data, they tended to favour public relations and public perception considerations over the accountability and transparency that would result from such data being disseminated for public scrutiny.”

The lack of strategic and well-considered campus security measures was evident in the unwillingness of universities to engage with sexual violence on campuses in a meaningful way, she said.

“However, since campus rape usually occurs within private (presumably safe) spaces, such as dormitories, and involving people who know one another, it is doubtful whether strengthening security would remedy the situation.”

Instead, Ndelu said, what was needed was for universities to invest time and money in devising and implementing policy and educational mechanisms that would not only serve to “deter and unapologetically punish” such offences, but also provide adequate and sensitive support services for survivors.

Daily News

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