Angry students rough up deputy minister
PANDEMONIUM broke out at Rhodes University in Grahamstown yesterday when a group of student activists manhandled Higher Education and Training Deputy Minister Mduduzi Manana and barred him from the institution.
Manana was at Rhodes to attend a dialogue on genderbased violence aimed at resolving rape incidents which had taken place at the university in recent months. But before the dialogue could even get going, student activists, some of them half naked, disrupted it.
Rhodes University vice-chancellor Dr Sizwe Mabizela, Fort Hare University vice-chancellor Dr Mvuyo Tom and radio host Criselda Kananda-Dudumashe were to take part in the dialogue.
Though some students disrupted the event, others felt that Manana should not leave the university before addressing them.
“You are the deputy minister – why are you leaving before speaking to us?” a student was heard shouting. Another student urged him to resign.
Manana told students that the university had its autonomy and the department could not impose decisions on it.
But the students refused to listen, demanding that the deputy minister address them. They also wanted to know the contents of the meeting between Manana and the university management.
Manana told students that he had met Mabizela and told him to urgently convene a meeting to deal with the students’ concerns.
It seems this was not enough to students because they started to corner him. Some even manhandled Manana, whose bodyguard stood by helplessly, fearing the rage of female student activists.
Manana was eventually rescued by Mabizela and the university security guards. But students were so angry that they even tried to prevent the deputy minister from getting into his car. After a scuffle, he managed to flee, but students hurled rubbish at his vehicle as he made his getaway.
Rhodes student activist Naledi Mashishi said they were frustrated by the university’s “unwillingness” to address their concerns. “We protested in April, but the university never listened to us. There’s no engagement with us,” said Mashishi.
Mabizela accused the students of not being willing to engage the management.
“No issues, unfortunately, can ever be resolved without engagement,” he said.