WSU and students disagree on identity of dead man

By Thapelo Molefe

Walter Sisulu University (WSU) has sparked fury among its student body after claiming that the person killed in a shooting on its Mthatha campus is not a registered student — a statement that student leaders have condemned as an attempt to erase the victim’s identity and deflect accountability.

The university released a statement saying that protests had erupted “without prior notice” and escalated into a violent home invasion at a staff residence on campus on Tuesday. 

During the incident, WSU said two students were injured and later discharged from hospital, while one individual was fatally shot.

The university said the individual who died was “not a registered student nor a staff member”, a declaration that student leadership have slammed as a “disrespectful and dishonest” attempt to distance the institution from taking account.

Both the Institutional Student Representative Council (ISRC) and the Mthatha campus SRC have rejected that