Staff Reporter
University of the Free State (UFS) rector and vice-chancellor Professor Francis Petersen says South Africa’s high levels of poverty, inequality and unemployment should not be used to justify violent crime, particularly against students.
Petersen said this during a media briefing on Wednesday to outline measures being implemented to improve student security both on and off-campus following a robbery which claimed the lives of two UFS students in QwaQwa last week.
The students, who were studying at the QwaQwa campus, rented rooms at Botjhabela Village near Phuthaditjhaba.
They were having drinks with others when they were allegedly attacked and shot by three unknown suspects in balaclavas in the early hours of Wednesday.
The assailants demanded cash, laptops and cellphones from them.
“We can talk about the underlying reasons for the crime and the violence,” said Petersen who used the media briefing to voice his concerns about the violent crimes against students.
“And when talking about the underlying reasons, what’s often put on the table are issues of poverty, inequality and unemployment.
“This is certainly not enough reason to hurt another human being or to murder someone. I certainly believe you can’t use those reasons for doing to others,” he pointed out.
Petersen was flanked by District Police Commissioner responsible for policing in Mangaung Major General Arthur Adams as well as Student Affairs executive director Temba Hlasho; Protection Services senior director Noko Masalesa and the president of the Institutional Student Representative Council Jerry Thoka.
Petersen acknowledged the role played by the police in fighting crime but urged community members to work closely with them because most crimes happen where they live.
“I think we need a collective effort to tackle this evil that destroys our communities and societies.
“Members of the communities that are witnessing these crimes . . . I would like them to come forward and report them… we have to work together to see to what extend we can be able to deal with the issue of crime and violence. Enough is enough,” said the vice chancellor.
He said since the incident, the QwaQwa campus management has been providing on-campus accommodation to 13 students who reside at the off-campus residence where the robbery occurred as they were scared to continue staying there.
The residence was however not accredited although it had been verified by the university.
The university says it will step up measures to ensure all student accommodation meets minimum security standards such as having a perimeter wall and alarm.
It said it will also put measures in place to constantly monitor the safety of students.
Adams, who was standing in for the Free State Police Commissioner Lieutenant-General Baile Motswenyane, said police are trying to establish if two suspects who were arrested for a separate robbery incident on Monday, could be linked to the fatal attack on students given their modus operandi.
“A similar incident happened on September 27 not far from where the first one happened . . . where also three armed suspects accosted the occupants of another rental accommodation,” said Adams.
The Free Stater reported yesterday that one of the victims overpowered one of the suspects and injured him when the gun went off accidentally during a tussle. The victim also shot and injured the other suspect but the third one escaped.
The injured suspects were immediately arrested and now in hospital under police guard.
He said police in Phuthaditjhaba firmly believe that the method used the suspects in the latest incident “is strikingly similar to the one employed” on the students.
“The police . . . are in the process of linking these suspects to first incident. Based on the evidence from the two crime scenes, we should be in a position to conclusively either link them or not link them. But usually when it comes to incidents like this… we tend to be spot on,” Adams explained.
He said the suspects in police custody are Lesotho nationals who have been living in the area for some time.
The surviving student from the two who were rushed to hospital following the robbery, was discharged at the weekend.