Durban - The University of KwaZulu-Natal (UKZN) is investigating an unauthorised four-day student event at a residence on the Howard College campus which caused a disturbance for residents living in the Glenwood area.
Sakhile Mngadi, ward 33 councillor, which covers the areas of Glenwood, Umbilo and Bulwer, went to the campus on Wednesday night to find out what was going on.
In an update on Facebook, Mngadi said he spent two hours at the campus trying to get answers regarding the massive party happening at their Sphiwe Zuma Residence.
He said what he found was shocking.
“There are over 2 000 students, there are only two security personnel at the inside gate trying to keep control. There is no verification process at the gate so random people are now entering the area,” said Mngadi.
According to Mngadi, there was a DJ at the event who did not have an entertainment licence.
“I was directed by the security personnel to speak to a drunk student who is apparently in charge and part of the SRC and I refused to engage him in his intoxicated state. No management or control over this, that has been going on for four days now,” he said.
The councillor added that residents in Lamont Road captured random people cutting the UKZN fence to get into the sports field with cooler boxes and alcohol.
“If these institutions want to coexist they need to start respecting the community they exist in. I’ll be requesting a meeting tomorrow (Thursday) with management because someone needs to account,” said Mngadi.
UKZN’s executive director of corporate relations, Normah Zondo, said the university had received reports of an unauthorised event held at the Howard College campus.
“This event allegedly caused disturbances to nearby residents due to high noise levels. The university takes the matter seriously and has started an internal process to establish all facts,” she said.
Zondo said preliminary reports show that no university structure approved an event of that nature.
This means the staging of the event was in contravention of the university guidelines, she said.
“The university will formally investigate the matter, and the organisers of the event will be subjected to internal disciplinary processes,” said Zondo.
Zondo added that UKZN remains committed to peaceful and mutually-beneficial coexistence with all communities, especially those neighbouring all its campuses.
“We strongly condemn any staging of unauthorised events and wish to warn our staff and students that any member of the university community who is implicated in organising such (events) will be subjected to internal disciplinary processes,” she said.
Zondo said the university will be meeting with community representatives to strengthen cooperation.
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