TUT student stabbed, allegedly during SRC election
7 September 2019
A Tshwane University of Technology (TUT) student and member of the Democratic Alliance (DA) student's movement was stabbed eight times, allegedly during the election for the university’s Student Representative Council (SRC) earlier this week.
The incident took place at the university's Soshanguve campus, outside a voting station while votes for the SRC were being counted, says Crezanne Bosch, a member of the Gauteng legislature, as well as a constituency leader for the DA students' organisation in the province.
According to Bosch, the stabbing took place after voting station had been closed for the votes to be counted, where some students were sitting and waiting for the results. During the altercation, the student was stabbed in his neck and side, near his lung, Bosch adds.
The student had been admitted to the George Mukhari Hospital in Pretoria and is still in a critical condition, according to Bosch.
TUT spokesperson Willa de Ruyter told The Citizen that the stabbing wasn't linked to the SRC elections, but rather a personal dispute.
"Regardless of the cause of the incident, the university has a responsibility to ensure safety of its students," Bosch says.
"The DA calls on the university to investigate this incident. Universities should be a place of safety."
Bosch adds that the university has experienced violence around SRC elections in the past and had hired additional security to be deployed specifically for this year's election.
However, she alleges the security officers "stood by and did nothing" during the incident.
The university has previously experienced violence around SRC elections.
Last year, one student was shot and killed and another wounded during a voting dispute. In 2013, the three students were stabbed on the Tshwane University of Technology (TUT) Polokwane campus. The attack was sparked by an argument related to student leadership elections held on campus.
When contacted for comment on this week's stabbing, the police's Kay Makhubele said the police were aware of the incident but that it had not been reported to them.
