CApe Town - The Department of Higher Education and Training has called for an urgent meeting with student leaderships, vice-principals and other partners in higher learning institutions to discuss violence and sexual assault, among other issues.
Safety in institutions has been in the spotlight recently after violent incidents on campuses and marches against rape.
Responding to a parliamentary question, Higher Education and Training Minister Naledi Pandor last week released alarming statistics that more than 40 rape incidents were reported on campuses last year.
The University of Cape Town topped the list with nine, followed by Walter Sisulu University with seven.
Tshwane University of Technology had six cases while Nelson Mandela University had five and the University of Johannesburg four.
UCT spokesperson Elijah Moholola said the nine reported cases were for rape as well as sexual assault. He said UCT had established a development monitoring body, the Sexual Assault Response Team (Sart).
Pandor’s spokesperson Lunga Ngqengelele said: “The minister is taking the issue seriously to the point she has asked the department to convene a meeting with vice-principals of colleges, universities and student leaderships next month. We have started collecting information from institutions."