Students stabbed, injured in violent clash outside DUT campus
Charges of assault with intent to cause grievous bodily harm were opened for investigation at Berea SAPS.
FIVE students were stabbed and several others injured when a violent fight broke out between the EFF student council (EFFSC) and the South African Students Congress (Sasco) members outside the Durban of Technology campus, yesterday.
Speaking about the incident, which left one student with a broken bone and numerous others admitted to hospital, KwaZulu-Natal SAPS spokesperson, Captain Nqobile Gwala, said, “Yesterday morning there was a clash among two parties outside the campus at DUT. Five students were stabbed and sustained injuries during the altercation. They were taken to a campus clinic for medical attention. Police are at the scene to monitor and stabilise the situation. The situation is quite at the moment. Charges of assault with intent to cause grievous bodily harm were opened for investigation at Berea SAPS.”
Meanwhile, Durban University of Technology vice-chancellor and principal, Professor Thandwa Mthembu, confirmed the protest took place outside the Steve Biko Campus in Durban on Tuesday and condemned the violence.
“I saw unsightly video clips earlier yesterday showing a street brawl between groups of students, presumably affiliated with SASCO and EFFSC. This apparently happened along Steve Biko Road in Durban; a thoroughfare that separates our Steve Biko and Ritson campuses,” said Prof Mthembu.
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“It is very unbecoming of a university student to recoil into the most primitive ways of settling disagreements: fisticuffs, sjamboking, hurling of bricks and stones, and so forth. Management has no option but to take very drastic disciplinary measures against all of those who will be identifiable and/or reported to have been involved in this brawl. Simply, their behaviour does not belong in a university,” he added.
Prof Mthembu said during the brawl, people failed to obey the Covid-19 regulations making it a possible super-spreader gathering.
“On behalf of management, I condemn all of these violations of our institutional culture and Covid-19 protocols and regulations. I urge all our students to desist from this despicable and errant behaviour,” he added.
Caxton Local Media Covid-19 reporting
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