Barely three weeks after he was elected president of the South African Student Congress (Sasco), Siphiwe Zuma was tragically killed last month in a car accident. He was 23.
Zuma, other members of Sasco and Julias Malema (Congress of South African Students president) were on their way to attend the South African Democratic Teachers’ Union conference in KwaZulu-Natal when the accident occurred.
Malema and other members sustained minor injuries.
Zuma’s death comes as a serious blow to the ailing student movement, which has experienced a significant membership decline since 1994. Incidents of maladministration, corruption and abuse of office have also come to characterise the organisation at student representative council level.
A third-year law student at the University of Natal, Zuma had told the Teacher in an interview shortly before his death that his priority, as a new leader, was to consolidate unity within the organization.
Zuma was a close relative of Deputy President Jacob Zuma and was buried in his hometown of Newcastle.