By Thapelo Molefe

Higher Education and Training Minister Nobuhle Nkabane has confirmed that the student who was shot dead at Walter Sisulu University on Tuesday is a registered student, which directly contradicts the university’s earlier press statement.

“According to our NSFAS (National Student Financial Aid Scheme) record that I have here with me, the last payment of disbursement of funds to the university and to the students was at the end of last year. So, I can affirm today that indeed he was a student,” Nkabane said during a visit to the institution’s Mthatha campus on Wednesday.

Her confirmation comes after WSU issued a statement on Tuesday claiming that the deceased, who was killed during protests by students over living conditions at the university, was not registered.

The claim sparked outrage among the student body, which insisted the young man was actively attending classes and participating in campus life.

Nkabane said the error stemmed from a failure to verify the information provided by university management.

“Yes, I saw the university statement, but after we issued our own statement as the department. When I saw this trending on the news, I called Prof. Songca (the WSU Vice-Chancellor) to urgently brief me. She told me the student was not registered,” said Nkabane.

“The unfortunate part is that as the department, we issued a statement without doing due diligence or a quality check. But in the evening, after noticing contradicting views around the matter, I tasked the director-general to verify, and we confirmed he was indeed registered.”

Nkabane said she was “broken” by the incident and would be visiting the family of the student in Matatiele. 

“I can’t even speak. I don’t know how I’m going to face the family,” she said. “As a mother, I’m broken, to be honest.”

The minister’s visit comes amid growing criticism of campus safety and the university’s handling of the situation. 

The Student Representative Council has also demanded the immediate removal of KaMyaluza Security, which it accuses of multiple past incidents of violence, including firing at students and physically assaulting female students.

The residence manager, who allegedly shot Sisonke Mbolekwa, is now missing. Police confirmed that his phone is off.

Nkabane condemned what she described as a “new emergency in our institutions of weaponising and militarisation”. She said she would invoke Section 42 of the Higher Education Act to formally notify the university council to investigate the matter.

“We are not going to leave any stone unturned in ensuring that the case is attended to,” she said. “There will be consequence management.” 

The incident has also reignited scrutiny of WSU’s long-standing issues with violence, particularly in the context of student protests. 

In May 2023, the SA Human Rights Commission held an inquiry into the university, investigating claims of targeted violence against protesting students. The final report is yet to be released.

In addition to safety concerns, students have also raised issues about basic services, including poor water supply and inadequate accommodation.

Nkabane said she had discussed the matter with the campus president and promised an oversight visit to assess conditions and enforce compliance with national standards.

As the investigation into the fatal shooting continues, students and civil society groups are calling for swift justice and meaningful reforms to ensure such incidents are not repeated.

INSIDE EDUCATION

By Lungile Ntimba

Gauteng education MEC Matome Chiloane has condemned the recent incidents of gang-related violence that have affected Thetha Secondary School and Vulanindlela Secondary School, in Orange Farm.

“We call on all parents, guardians and community members to work with the Department to instil discipline and support efforts to protect the future of our learners. Our learners deserve an environment free from fear and violence,” Chiloane said in a statement on Wednesday.

This comes after a Grade 11 learner from Vulanindlela Secondary School was stabbed and rushed to the clinic on Wednesday morning, after an altercation with other learners.

A Grade 10 perpetrator was apprehended by school patrollers and is currently in police custody. 

In a separate incident at Thetha Secondary School, a series of events was triggered by a stabbing incident in the community on Friday, involving a learner and a known gang member.

The department said this appeared to be an act of retaliation, with gang members targeting the same learner at the school premises on Monday morning.

“No fatalities of school learners who may have been involved in both incidents were reported,” said the MEC.

“However, the department is working closely with law enforcement agencies to verify all reported incidents and suspects to ensure the safety of all learners and educators.” 

Schooling has been disrupted in the area due to the heightened tensions and ongoing safety concerns.

Chilone said the department and the SA Police Service have taken steps to stabilise the situation by increasing police visibility.

Employee wellness and psychosocial support teams have been deployed to provide necessary support to learners and educators affected by these incidents.

The MEC also said that the governing bodies of both schools would suspend and initiate disciplinary processes against identified learners.

Pupils have been encouraged to return to class as police have committed to patrolling their schools.

“Indeed, we unequivocally condemn all acts of violence and gang-related activity on and around school premises. We are committed to ensuring that our schools remain safe spaces for learning and development,” Chiloane said.

“Any learner found to be involved in gang-related violence will be suspended with immediate effect and subjected to formal disciplinary proceedings.”

INSIDE EDUCATION

By Alicia Mmashakana

The KwaZulu-Natal education department has issued guidelines for the management of schools during storms or flooding.

In the last week, the province has experienced continuous rain, which has led to localized flooding.

While there are currently no formal reports of damage to schools, the department has advised teachers and staff to exercise caution, especially as the rain is expected to let up anytime soon.

“It is imperative that schools and offices must adhere to specific guidelines in the event of extreme rainfall, wind or any other natural disaster which may threaten the lives of learners, teachers, and officials,” KZN education HOD Nkosinathi Ngcobo said on Wednesday.

“It is significant to note that any damage to road infrastructure may render learners and educators unable to make their way to schools. This includes delivery of food items necessary for the feeding of learners.”

According to Ngcobo, principals were responsible for developing curriculum catch-up plans and ensuring that learners were always engaged, whether at home or at school.

The following guidelines were issued for principals, circuit managers and all other responsibility managers:

School principals must always communicate with parents of learners to ensure that they take extra caution before sending their children to school in the morning.

Should the situation be completely unfavourable, the principal is responsible for advising parents to keep their children at home.

If learners are already at school, principals must observe the severity of the rainfall and decide either to keep them in school for their safety or immediately release them before the situation worsens. 

Any damage to school infrastructure or roads leading to the school, which affects learners and educators, must be reported immediately to the education department. 

Other responsibility managers must also advise staff members on the possible

safety precautions based on updated weather reports

According to the KwaZulu-Natal economic development, tourism and environmental affairs department, the eThekwini metro has been hit the hardest in terms of household destruction and people affected.

The SA Weather Service issued a level five warning for KwaZulu-Natal on Wednesday.

“The department cannot afford to lose any lives due to flooding of bridges and destruction of offices or classrooms,” Ngcobo said.

INSIDE EDUCATION

By Akani Nkuna

Teachers’ union Sadtu will embark on national protest to the Treasury, and departments of Basic Education and Higher Education and Training in Pretoria next week against budget cuts.

“This mass action is in protest against the austerity measures that are undermining public service delivery – particularly in education – and threatening the constitutional right to equality in education, especially for children from poor and working class backgrounds,” Sadtu general secretary, Mugwena Maluleke said in statement on Wednesday.

The upcoming march aligns with the global call by Education International under the theme “Go Public! Fund Education”.

The union aims to spotlight the severe impact budget cuts are having on South Africa’s education system, affecting teachers, learners and communities.

Mugwena said overcrowding in schools was growing and thousands of posts had been left vacant.

He said the Western Cape had frozen over 2000 posts, while other provinces have failed to expand staffing to match increasing enrolment numbers.

“… schools do not receive their funding for norms and standards timeously, forcing principals to cover basic operational costs from their own pockets. Educators and learners are also facing growing safety concerns, with violence in schools on the rise,” Mugwena added.

“Yet little is being done to strengthen security or to provide adequate psychological support. The lack of investment in teacher wellbeing continues to strain and already overstretched workforce.”

A recent Satu survey reveals the harsh impact of budget cuts on education, including overcrowded classrooms, poor infrastructure and shortage of staff. Grade R practitioners face exploitative wages, while scholar transport payments lag.

The union blames these issues on the harmful neoliberal policies that it says must end.

INSIDE EDUCATION

By Thapelo Molefe

Walter Sisulu University (WSU) has sparked fury among its student body after claiming that the person killed in a shooting on its Mthatha campus is not a registered student — a statement that student leaders have condemned as an attempt to erase the victim’s identity and deflect accountability.

The university released a statement saying that protests had erupted “without prior notice” and escalated into a violent home invasion at a staff residence on campus on Tuesday. 

During the incident, WSU said two students were injured and later discharged from hospital, while one individual was fatally shot.

The university said the individual who died was “not a registered student nor a staff member”, a declaration that student leadership have slammed as a “disrespectful and dishonest” attempt to distance the institution from taking account.

Both the Institutional Student Representative Council (ISRC) and the Mthatha campus SRC have rejected that version of events, identifying the deceased as Sisonke Mbolekwa, a student and activist on campus. 

They accuse the university of using deregistration tactics to strip the slain student of his dignity and to protect the alleged perpetrator, who is a residence manager.

“The university’s attempt to dehumanise Sisonke by denying his student status is not only inhumane but a direct assault on the student body,” said the Mthatha Campus SRC in a strongly worded statement. 

“He was one of us. A brother. A comrade. A student.”

According to the ISRC, four students were shot, not two, in the early hours of Tuesday morning while protesting against poor residence conditions and alleged misconduct by the residence manager. 

The students say that university officials had long been warned about the manager’s “mafia tendencies” and dismissive attitude toward student welfare.

“This was not an isolated incident,” the ISRC declared. “We raised concerns repeatedly about (the residence manager), but they were ignored. Now a student is dead.”

The university’s statement focused on the violence of the incident, noting that the residence manager’s wife was seriously injured during the confrontation and had to be hospitalised while the staff member and children were rescued by police. 

WSU also condemned the unrest and urged students to use “established internal channels” for resolving grievances.

“We urge the university community to rely only on official statements,” said WSU spokesperson Yonela Tukwayo.

But student leaders argue that peaceful efforts have failed, and that systemic issues with security, residence management and university responsiveness have pushed them to the brink. 

They also demanded the immediate removal of KaMyaluza Security, a company they accuse of multiple past incidents of violence, including firing at students and physically assaulting female students.

“This is the third confrontation with KaMyaluza, and in every case, they have instigated violence. Yet the university remains silent,” the ISRC stated. 

“We call for their immediate removal from campus.”

In honour of the deceased, students gathered on Tuesday night for a candlelight vigil outside the administration block, all dressed in black. 

Meanwhile, the Mthatha Campus SRC has declared a complete shutdown of the campus and the town until their demands are met and justice is served.

“We will not be silenced. This is not just about Sisonke — it is about the soul of this university,” read the SRC’s rallying call. 

“No lectures, no administration, no compromise. We want justice.”

WSU said investigations were underway and urged the community to await verified information from official sources. 

However, trust between students and management appears to be at a breaking point.

Higher Education and Training Minister Nobuhle Nkabane has confirmed that she urgently engaged WSU Vice-Chancellor Prof. Rushiella Nolundi Songca for a full briefing and has requested a comprehensive report on the incident.

The minister also announced plans to visit the university in the coming days to meet with stakeholders and ensure that appropriate measures are taken to protect the academic community. 

“No student should ever be harmed while accessing their right to education,” Nkabane stated. 

“This must be the last time we are forced to respond to such a tragedy at our institutions.”

As tensions rise and protests intensify, the university faces mounting pressure to account for its actions and inactions in the events leading up to the fatal shooting and how it has responded to a grieving and outraged student body.

INSIDE EDUCATION

By Lungile Ntimba 

The Economic Freedom Fighters is going to mobilise students across campuses following a fatal shooting at the Walter Sisulu University’s Mthatha campus on Tuesday.

A student was shot dead and two others injured during a protest over residence-related issues, including maintenance. It is alleged that a residence manager used live ammunition to disperse the students.

Police say the administrator was attacked at his house by protesting students.

“The EFF will be mobilising together with the Youth Command structures across all campuses to ensure that justice is not only demanded, but delivered,” the EFF in the Eastern Cape said in a statement.

“Should our calls be ignored, the EFF will not hesitate to engage in further action in defence of our students and the right to safe, fair and humane learning environments.”

It has been a rocky start to the academic year, with students protesting at higher education institutions across the country over various issues.

Political parties have condemned the latest incident and called calm at the university.

DA MPL Yusuf Cassim said the incident should not be viewed in isolation, but rather as the most recent outcome in long-standing pattern of instability, poor oversight and unchecked escalation at the institution.

“This tragic shooting comes less than a month after the university shut down all campuses due to violent protests and raises serious questions about what steps, if any, were taken in the interim to address the causes of unrest and restore safety,” he said in a statement.

“In March, those protests escalated into violent actions, including the intimidation of non-striking students, the forced evacuation of staff and security personnel, vandalism of university property and the suspension of academic operations across campuses.”

Operations at the campus have been suspended.

“Clearly, there is a breakdown in communication, and university management appears incapable of managing the situation,” Cassim said.

The DA and the GOOD Party want a full investigation into the shooting.

“I will call on the premier to immediately deploy an interdisciplinary team to the campus, including SAPS, community safety, Social Development and other role players to stabilise the situation and support students on the ground,” Cassim added.

Student Representative Council (SRC) president Themba Zikhali has demanded that the university addresses grievances and justice for the dead student.

He said students have been protesting since the beginning of this academic year about the issue regarding residences, residence appliances, the visitors’ policy, water, curtains and WI-FI.

The GOOD Party said that tensions have been escalating at universities in recent years, and it was deeply alarming that pursuing education had come at a cost.

“The university experience should be one of intellectual growth, cultural exchange and empowerment – not fear and trauma,” it said in a statement.

“Instead, the south African reality for many students is marred by financial exclusion, accommodation crises and administrative inefficiency. These issues must not be normalised.”

Cassim has urged provincial leaders to get in contact with Higher Education and training Minister Nobuhle Nkabane to facilitate a coordinated response. 

This should include ensuring that the university’s management is held accountable and that systemic issues are addressed at the highest level, he said.

Higher Education and Training Minister Nobuhle Nkabane has engaged with the university’s Vice-Chancellor, Prof. Rushiella Nolundi Songca, to get a full briefing and offer the department’s support.

The minister has also requested that the university furnishes her with a comprehensive report on the incident as a matter of urgency.

She will visit the university in the coming days to engage with stakeholders, assess the situation on the ground and ensure that appropriate measures are taken to protect the university community.

“Dr Nkabane is resolute that no student should ever be harmed while accessing their right to education. This must be the last time we are forced to respond to such a tragedy at our institutions of higher learning,” her department said.

INSIDE EDUCATION

By Johannah Malogadihlare

A total of 362 learners recently graduated from the Telkom Foundation’s information and communications technology learnership programme, bringing the total number of certified learners to 1077 in Mpumalanga and the Free State.

The foundation has partnered with Afrika Kids Code to drive digital skills education among young people.

“We believe that technology is a great equaliser. This is all about giving every South African child a fighting chance to compete, create, and contribute to a better future,” said the head of the Telkom Foundation, Judy Vilakazi.

Learners from Qhubulwazi and Methula high schools in Mpumalanga, as well as Tiisetsang and Kgolathuto high schools in the Free State were equipped with a wide range of coding and robotics skills.

“It has been humbling to watch these students grow, not just academically but personally too. They enter the programme shy and uncertain, but they leave confident, curious and innovative,” said Afrika Kids Code founder Mangaliso Mokoape.

Mpho Majola from Tiisetsang High School said: “Technology skills will be the key to success in the Fourth Industrial Revolution. I now have a head start in life. The sky is the limit.”

The programme is certified by IBM and IC3. It offers certain areas of specialisation including technical support, systems development and business analysis.

Each participant completed four months training that was followed by work placement at host employers for experiential learning.

“What a touching experience this was watching learners being exposed to the world of technology; a world they otherwise would never have seen. The programme helped them improve academically as well,” Vilakazi said in a statement.

The programme also offered entrepreneurship development, financial literacy, design thinking, 4IR awareness, personal branding and work readiness.

The ICT learnership is an accredited programme by the Media, Information and Communication Technologies Sector Education and Training Authority.

INSIDE EDUCATION

By Edwin Naidu

Education and credible journalism are necessary to stamp out disinformation, but a continent-wide effort should strengthen one’s resolve in the fight against the rise of fake news.

This could involve bringing together media and academic brains to ensure a united front against large social media platforms, such as Google and X, which are used to spread fake news.

Elon Musk, the South African-born owner of X, was described as a “super-spreader” during the University of Johannesburg discussion “Speaking the Truth by Understanding the Untruth: Addressing Fake News and Disinformation in South Africa and the African Continent”.

X has been used to cause mayhem in South Africa and worldwide.

The high-powered roundtable at the University of Johannesburg on Monday was organised by the UJ Library Services in association with Higher Education Media Services.

The seminar series looked at the growing debate around fake news and the narrative of how individuals are portrayed in the media.

Panellists included Anton Harber, who is a free speech activist and executive director of the Henry Nxumalo Foundation, Phathiswa Magopeni, who is the executive director of the Press Council of SA and SA National Editors’ Forum executive director Reggy Moalusi.

Underscoring the importance of this dialogue, UJ Vice-Chancellor Prof. Letlhokwa Mpedi said that during the past weekend, it was widely reported that Olena Zelensaka, the first lady of Ukraine, had attempted to flee the country.

He said this began with a video that had the BBC logo on X and Telegram earlier in the week and then was amplified on TikTok and Facebook.

The voiceover claimed that her plan to escape for six months was foiled and she was being held by Ukraine’s security services. In response to the traction the clip had, a journalist for the BBC’s fact-checking service said in a statement on X that “BBC never published this video clip”.

As it turns out, Mpedi said this was the work of a disinformation operation that often-used clips bearing logos of major outlets.

“As this example shows, we are in an era of disinformation. More now than ever, it is difficult to discern between what is real and what is not and the implications of this are profound. As the former US congressman Will Hurd explains: ‘Disinformation is more than just lying. It’s the denial and twisting of reality in order to present some desired image to the rest of the world’.”

According to Mpedi, the Africa Centre for Strategic Studies found last year that disinformation was rapidly spreading across the continent and posing a serious threat to stability, democracy and civil liberties.

These campaigns have fuelled violence, supported coups and even undermined elections, leaving conflict-affected and authoritarian-leaning nations most at risk. The surge coincides with declining press freedom, as laws meant to combat disinformation suppress journalists, further weakening defences against these harmful narratives.

Winston Churchill once said: “A lie gets halfway around the world before the truth has a chance to get its pants on.” Let this be a moment where we help truth catch up.

While the academic and media experts provided practical evidence of the current situation, Mpedi challenged media consumers to heed the words of Stimela’s late frontman, Ray Phiri, who urged people to look, listen and decide, although he conceded the song was about couples entangled in a love relationship.

While the discussion provided plenty of food for thought, which was appreciated by the audience and through online questions, the next planned focus of the series will consider how South African universities should release themselves from the shackles of dependence it has developed with international funders.

This is particularly crucial given the shifts in the global economy. Undoubtedly, the effects on South African universities will be enormous. The question remains: How do we deal with it?

Two words spring to mind: Let’s Talk! While it may not have all the answers, a room of people committed to finding solutions rather than adding to the noise on social media seems to handle some of the challenges.

Edwin Naidu is the Editor of Inside Education.

INSIDE EDUCATION

By Thebe Mabanga

South Africa’s post schooling education must cater for everyone, irrespective of their age, skills level, profile, or even the quality of their matric pass if they even attain the National Senior Certificate.

This was the view expressed by Deputy Minister of Higher Education and Training, Buti Manamela, in an interview with Inside Education, in which he reflected the strides made in higher education and the challenges that lie ahead.

“In the period since we have been a democracy, we have transformed higher education,” said Manamela, who noted that South Africa has expanded access and built a single system that responded to various skills development needs.

Manamela pointed to the improvement in the number of students who had enrolled in higher education institutions. In universities there had been jump from 400,000 students 1,1 million, 500,000 were now enrolled in Technical Vocational and Education Training (TVET) colleges and 200,000 in Community and Education Training (CET) centres.  

He warned that these numbers, while impressive, fell short of the National Development Plan targets, which envisaged 1,3 million learners in universities, 2,5 million in TVET colleges and 1 million in CET colleges.

Manamela noted that the post schooling education sector must cater for an adult in their mid-40s, who, for whatever reason, could not complete matric but now required basic skills, like baking, plumbing or dress making, to earn a living, to someone who needed more intense technical training, to those seeking an elite, globally focused specialised education up to doctoral studies.

Manamela emphasised the importance of CET centres, which were the old Adult Basic Education and Training centres. They cater for matric rewrites and short courses of about six weeks for a wide range of basic skills.

The deputy minister is particularly passionate about community colleges, which have been in formal existence for 10 years, because they cater for those who are not in employment, not in education and not in training – the so-called NEETs, who are often overlooked.

Manamela said the challenge with community colleges was that infrastructure was uneven as you could find a state-of-the-art facility in Soweto and a dilapidated structure in a peri urban town or rural area.

The government was now regulating the ownership of buildings by these colleges, as most were housed in schools, and investing R1 billion in improving infrastructure.

On TVET colleges, Manamela said the government was worried about the throughput, or completion rate, for those who enrolled either at Grade 10 for the Further Education and Training (FET) starting at N1, or after matric starting at N3 to N6. 

He said the government must invest in bridging the gap between schooling and TVET colleges to increase their capacity and the quality of teaching and also use technology platforms to improve access through online teaching.

He said they had seen improvement through Centres of Specialisation.

Universities faced a different set of challenges.

“South Africa has a very university centric culture, and we need to change that,” Manamela said, pointing out universities that are more than 100 years old.

He said universities must be focused on research and knowledge production and the supply side of labour, while skills like an auxiliary nurse could be left to specialist training centres and TVET colleges.

South African universities must undergo a “global reset” to maintain their credibility while helping South Africa as a society to transition with its developmental goals, the deputy minister said.

He said society has a task to help students and guide their career choices, offer them support with funds and other resources, and create an environment where they could look for work or become entrepreneurs.

Ultimately, Manamela believes, everyone should find room in the system.

Having been in his current role since October 2017, the deputy minister says it is the students that motivate him to keep doing what he does because “they have hope”.

And, youngsters and adults can count on his support.

Video by Kgalalelo Setlhare Mogapi and Katlego Tshekoesele.

INSIDE EDUCATION