A student was fatally shot during a protest at Walter Sisulu University, Mthatha campus.
The tragedy unfolding at Walter Sisulu University (WSU) is more than just a case of a violent protest. It is a symptom of a long-standing problem of neglect, unfulfilled commitments, disregarded voices, and the worsening conditions many students endure while pursuing their education.
A protest about poor living conditions at a student residence quickly spiralled into chaos, as three students were shot (one killed and three who sustained minor injuries). A 54-year-old suspect has since been arrested, it is alleged that he was a residence manager at the university. Initially, the institution then rushed to control the narrative, focusing on whether the deceased was a registered student and highlighting that the protest turned violent and broke residence rules.
But we ask a much deeper question: would students have taken to the streets, would tempers have flared, would any lives have been put at risk if student accommodation were safe and truly dignified?
Across many universities in South Africa, student accommodation is in crisis. Insufficient space, maintenance issues, unsafe buildings, and lack of proper oversight have become commonplace. Many students, particularly those from working-class backgrounds, leave home with big dreams only to arrive at residences in horrendous conditions or no accommodation at all.
So, when these students sleep in unsafe, unhealthy, dilapidated buildings that go years without maintenance, is it actually a surprise that frustration boils over?
If a protest can escalate into gunfire, regardless of who pulled the trigger, then there is a visible failure in how institutions protect both students and staff. A campus should be a space of learning, safety and open dialogue.
Violence does not just happen, it grows where people are unheard, unseen and uncared for. If the conditions in the residences were decent, and students had a safe place to sleep, perhaps there would have been no protest and certainly no bloodshed.
Higher institutions must come to a realisation that these student accommodations are not just buildings, beds and bathrooms. It is about whether students feel safe, respected and valued in the place they call home for years of their academic lives.
FEATURED IMAGE: Abena Mahlahlane. Photo: File/Paul Botes
Education eliminates stigma, and can also improve the quality of life of those affected.
Polycystic Ovary Syndrome (PCOS) and Endometriosis are two common yet often misunderstood women’s health conditions. In South Africa, the latter affects one in 10 women of reproductive age, and the former one in five women of reproductive age.
Wits TikTok star shares his beliefs on the power of content creation; and the responsibility that comes with it.
BCom Economics Honours student at Wits University, Lebogang Rampedi has garnered success on the social media platform TikTok, with his lifestyle content, since posting his first video in November 2022.
The 24-year-old rising star has only been creating content on social media for a year and four months, but has 83 600 followers on TikTok, with four million likes; and 52 600 subscribers on YouTube.
Rampedi told Wits Vuvuzela that he chose to focus on lifestyle content — that tackles real life issues — because he is a human being that faces some of those challenges himself.
He started producing his content on YouTube, but as TikTok became more popular, Rampedi shifted some of his content there.
News24reported in October 2022 that an estimation of around six million South Africans use TikTok daily and that the diversity and content creation was grabbing global attention.
Seeing this, he explained that on the business side of things, TikTok was the next move and he worked to transform his content to be applicable to the platform.
Lebo Rampedi shooting a video for his YouTube channel featuring Kudzai Mhlanga and Pabalo Maota. Photo: Aphelele Mbokotho
Rampedi understands that his peers spend a lot of their time on social media, and he wants his content to be relatable and have an impact on people’s lives.
“I wanted people to understand that not everyone is okay, we have this perspective that people online are living it big, but I wanted to be one of the first people with a large social presence expressing how sometimes I don’t know how tomorrow is going to go, but still within the effects of making people smile,” said Rampedi on some of his content, which shows some of the harsh realities people are faced with in South Africa.
“TikTok is a relatability app…The impact I was trying to make on TikTok is to have someone watch my video and be like ‘oh why do we all do this?’ And also, everything is bad news these days, so it felt good to make people happy,” he added.
Rampedi started creating content in high school, where he was heavily involved in the writing of plays, directing, and acting. However, putting the content on social media was difficult for him because of the scrutiny that comes with it.
His brother and fellow content creator, Thato Rampedi told to Wits Vuvuzela: “He is someone that is very creative, he is in touch with what makes audiences and viewers react, outside of his comedy, he is aware of what makes someone click on something, respond and engage; and I think he’s talented and unique in that.”
Content creator and friend Gontse Mohlatloe, mostly known as Justdaddyg said that Rampedi is a consistent TikToker, and that he loved his videos because they were relatable – and that outside of him being a content creator, Rampedi is an amazing person overall.
Although his numbers are growing, and people can claim that he is successful, Rampedi feels he still has a long way to go.
“ TikTok is a great platform because anyone can be huge based on their views, but in terms of following and the community that you can build is what I define success…if you can build a community so great that they also push the same narrative into their own lives of making other people laugh , that is what I see as success,” he explained.
In the future, he plans to go into the creation of dramas and short stories.
FEATURED IMAGE: Lifestyle content creator Lebo Rampedi posing for a picture. Photo: Aphelele Mbokotho
Researchers cooperate to tame the spread of communicable diseases in Africa
The University of the Witwatersrand has partnered with the University of Dundee in Scotland to explore new pathways to fight infectious diseases — which are caused by the spread of microorganisms.
The two hosted an online seminar on Wednesday, April 12, that discussed the use of new scientific approaches to tackle communicable diseases in the continent. Furthermore, the institutions are looking at opportunities to collaborate in areas of drug development.
The African continent has been lagging behind first world countries in terms of health care for infectious diseases such as TB, Malaria and Covid-19 — the lack of proper health care facilities and drugs make these diseases difficult to treat. In addition, the region has a higher burden of infectious diseases as compared to other continents.
The Africa Centre for Communicable Diseases reported in 2019 that the African region has more cases of TB and deaths compared to the rest of the globe. Source: Africa Centre for Communicable Diseases
According to a 2019 report from the World Health Organisation, 37% of people lose productivity due to noncommunicable diseases, while 27% are due to infectious diseases. This essentially means that people are not able to sustain themselves and contribute towards their country’s economy as they are too sick to do anything because of the lack of proper health care systems.
Professor Lynn Morris, vice-principal at Wits University said they hosted the webinar because they wanted to get a sense of how they can really take this mutual interest in the collaboration of drug development and make it work. The Scotland institution has identified gaps in the healthcare sector and want to contribute to make it to function better, she said.
Professor Ian Gilbert of the drug discovery unit at the university of Dundee said that they want to “develop drug discovery pathway[s]” for infectious diseases because for many of these illnesses, there’s never been an integrated drug discovery process. He added that they also want to equip the effectiveness in drug discovery.
The research collaboration aims to take the science and translate it into a clinical opportunity. This means getting new drugs as a cause of treatment to patients to reduce the risk of diseases developing into chronic illnesses— as well as to reduce the huge number of deaths.
Featured Image: The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says taking Truvada on a daily basis reduces the risk of getting HIV from sex by more than 90%. Photo: File
Experts say the developed world is mostly to blame for climate change, and with global attempts to mitigate this crisis South Africa’s solution and profits cannot come at the cost of those living close to platinum mines.
Residence students who faced eviction for failing mid-year exams allowed to continue calling the university “home” just in time for Homecoming Weekend.
Students are finding that their historical way of living and their future outlook have drastically changed, due to the impact of covid-19 in affecting household incomes.
Will we ever have peace and friendship within and across our borders? In this episode of We Should Be Writing, the Vuvu team takes on the final promise of the Freedom Charter: There shall be peace and friendship. We unpack how this vision clashes with the growing issue of xenophobia in South Africa today. Our guests […]
