Eastern Cape Provincial Legislature on gender based violence at University of Fort Hare

The Women’s Caucus Standing Committee is seriously concerned with the acts of violent brutality and incidents of rape ravaging the University of Fort Hare (UFH).  

 

“Not so long ago we learnt with shock and sadness about the disturbing news of UFH master’s student, Yonela Boli, who was allegedly stabbed to death by his girlfriend.  Whilst still struggling to come to terms with the sad news of  Yonela’s passing, we now hear reports that a witness in this case, Olwethu Tshefu who was also Yonela  Boli’s close friend, was stabbed to death on Saturday morning; he is  also a student at UFH. A few days after these two horrendous incidents, as if that were not enough, news came in that a ward councillor from Raymond Mhlaba Local Municipality raped a 21-year-old UFH student this past Saturday. The Women’s Caucus condemns equally all these incidents in the strongest terms possible,” said a visibly upset Women’s Caucus chairperson, MPL Bukiwe Fanta. 

 

“We call upon all sectors of society to stand up and wage a war against all forms of violence wherever they occur,” said MPL Fanta. “The Women’s Caucus further calls upon men to lead the fight against all forms of violence and brutality, especially violence directed at women and children. We must now make the fight against violence a societal issue, only when all members of the society are involved will we overcome this scourge,” added MPL Fanta.

 

The Committee is concerned with the silence of the UFH Vice Chancellor amidst all these shocking incidents taking place at the institution. The Women’s Caucus calls upon the Vice Chancellor and council to urgently take appropriate steps to ensure the safety of all on campus. “Institutions of higher learning are a source of information and knowledge, not violent crime scene. The Women’s Caucus cannot be silent when this prestigious institution and pride of our province is becoming a crime hot spot,” said MPL Fanta.

 

The Women’s Caucus is pleased with the announcement made by the Eastern Cape Premier Oscar Mabuyane in his State of the Province Address that the provincial government would intensify its fight against gender-based violence working with all sectors of society. The Committee supports the Premier’s call which says, “In response to the current spike of violent incidents in our institutions of higher learning, we are launching a campus safety programme to end the rate of crime and violence”. 

The Committee once again calls upon the civil society to join the fight against gender-based violence. 

“All perpetrators of violence must be brought to book and allow justice to take its course, and we hope they will rot in jail where they belong,” concluded MPL Fanta.

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