/ 4 October 2017

NMU vows to boost security after students attacked and raped

Students block an entrance at NMU.
Students block an entrance at NMU.

The Nelson Mandela University (NMU) has committed to beefing up security across all its campuses to ensure the safety of staff and students following a vicious attack against two students at its Second Avenue Campus on Monday night.

University management spent the better part of Tuesday consulting with students around issues of safety and security.

Hundreds of students converged at the South Campus in Summerstrand, where they raised their concerns around the lack of security on campus, slow response times to complaints and the overall lack of action from the university.

Students demanded a visible police presence and increased security, especially around night-time test venues, panic buttons, a functional emergency hotline, more controlled access to campuses and a safe route between campuses that was patrolled by security.

They also asked for shuttle services to run between residences and off-campus facilities at night.

The university responded, saying the following measures are to be immediately implemented:

• Heightening security by increasing the number of staff to undertake visible patrolling across all campuses, including all teaching venues, from now until the end of exams
• Expanding its partnership with SAPS and the Metro Police so as to attain extra support for our students in and around our campuses, particularly on Second Avenue and Missionvale
• Improvement of the CCTV monitoring
• Undertake control checks at entrances, taxi drop-off points and bus stops
• Undertake an audit of all the external campus lighting
• Extending its anti-crime initiatives with the Summerstrand Community Crime Forum, especially towards the establishment of a safe off-campus “green route” that will be monitored and patrolled

University spokesperson Zandile Mbabela said they would also be establishing a joint Campus Safety and Security Task Team that would review security systems and identify enhancements.

“This team will include students, who have been invited to send representatives,” she said.

“All staff and students are advised to have their identity cards with them at all times as part of the immediate safety improvements on all our campuses going forward.” – News24