The Minister of Higher Education and Training, Dr Blade Nzimande, has sent his condolences to the family of a sixth year medical student at Walter Sisulu University, Lwando Mantshontsho, who died on Friday.
Reports from WSU suggest that Lwando, from Cofimvaba, may have died after students turned on each other after a night of heavy partying and drinking – following the closure of the university's Mthatha campus, after students had embarked on violent demonstrations related to enrolments.
"My heartfelt condolences go to Lwando's family, friends and all who knew him and interacted with him at WSU. It is doubly tragic that the student was just about to complete his medical studies.
"The circumstances surrounding his death also leave us with a sense of shock and anger, and I call upon all our higher education communities, including students, to always act with discipline and care – respecting the law and the sanctity of human life all the time," Minister Nzimande said.
Lwando was part of the 100 learners who were being funded by the government, having been recruited in Grade 12 in Lusikisiki, in the Eastern Cape, in 2011 – as part of the Minister's Mandela day programme which was initiated in honour of former President Nelson Mandela’s call for 67 minutes of community service. The awards form part of an initiative by the Minister to provide bursaries to groups of academically gifted learners from disadvantaged rural backgrounds.
