Edwin Naidu
UNIVERSITY of Fort Hare vice-chancellor Sakhela Buhlungu will today meet with the family of final year law student Nosicelo Mtebeni, who was allegedly cut to pieces with a chainsaw, to discuss funeral arrangements so she can be given a dignified burial.
In what Buhlungu described as a brutal and horrific death, the dismembered body of the 23-year-old, from Matatiele in the Eastern Cape, was found on Wednesday in a suitcase on a pavement outside a residence in Quigney, East London.
A black refuse bag next to the suitcase carried some body parts.
Buhlungu described the murder as a dark day in the history of the university.
“And the remains found yesterday morning on the streets of East London, has left the university in mourning, utter shock.
“I have never seen, or hoped we would experience anything of this kind in this university and in this country,” he said.
He said the university would be meeting the slain student’s family to express their condolences and discuss honouring her memory.
“We also have plans once the discussions and consultations have taken place to have a memorial at the university.
“For the moment, we say rest in peace, Mtebeni, we are very saddened,” he said.
A 25-year-old man believed to be her boyfriend has been arrested and is expected to appear in court tomorrow.
“And we say to the authorities, enough is enough, let’s do something now.
“Exactly two years ago ... we came together as the university community, with stopped activities for half a day in East London, to launch and publicly make a statement of our position to end gender-based violence,” Buhlungu said.
While the university took steps against violence, Buhlungu said what happened to Mtebeni, took place “outside of our control, outside of our campuses, outside of our residences”.
The death of Mtebeni coincided with the release of the Quarter One Crime Statistics for 2021/22 financial year in Pretoria by Minister of Police Bheki Cele on Friday.
He said the statistics for the quarter were dismal.
Contact crimes such as murder, attempted murder, sexual offences and all categories of assault registered a 60,6% increase, compared to the corresponding period of the previous financial year.
In the three months of reporting, a 66.2% increase in murder was recorded.
Between April 2021 to end of June 2021, 5 760 people were killed in South Africa.
This is 2 294 more people killed compared to the corresponding period in the previous financial year.
Compared to a period without lockdown, it would result in an increase of 362 deaths.
Cele said out of a sample of 4 467 cases, it was determined that 2 531 people were murdered in public places like on the street, open field, parking areas and abandoned buildings.
He said 1 385 murders occurred either at the home of the victim or of the perpetrator, while 206 of the murders occurred at liquor outlets – the fourth most likely place to be killed in South Africa.
Overall, contact crimes increased by 60.6% compared to the same period last year.
If comparison was made to the normal period, prior to the country being placed under lockdown levels 5, 4 and 3, this would have resulted in an increase of 0.6%.
The top four causative factors of these murders are arguments, robberies, mob justice incidents and gang-related killings.
In 2019, the death of UCT student Uyinene Mrwetyana, who was raped and killed in a post office in the southern suburb of Claremont, sparked widespread condemnation of gender-based violence.
University of Western Cape theology student Jesse Hess was also murdered along with her 85-year-old grandfather at their home in Parow, a northern suburb in Cape Town.
Academics united under the banner of the university vice-chancellors’ body Universities South Africa to call for action.
While vice-chancellors, like Buhlungu, say there has been progress since then, as National Women’s Month draws to a close, the horrific death of Mtebeni highlights the country’s failure in tackling gender-based violence.
The university said students and gender activist groups intend to protest outside the Magistrate’s court tomorrow. In a statement, the University of Forth Hare said expressions and responses of grief, anger, outrage and solidarity over a brutal incident of femicide must be permitted and should take place without hindrance or interference. “The process of mourning, protestation and catharsis must be allowed during this time. We ask all parties to protest responsibly, peacefully and to observe Covid 19 protocols.”
Minister of Higher Education and Training, Science and Technology, Blade Nzimande, strongly condemned the circumstances around Mtebeni’s death, and reiterated his commitment to policies geared to root out gender-based violence in higher education and training institutions in South Africa.
>> Edwin Naidu writes for the Wits Justice Project (WJP). Based in the journalism department of the University of the Witwatersrand, the WJP investigates human rights abuses and miscarriages of justice related to SA’s criminal justice system.