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ESTABLISHED 1991
WEDNESDAY 2224 OCTOBER 2014
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Student’s body found Fellow students hand over memorandums regarding safety
} Tladi Moloi PHUTHADITJHABA. – The body of Sinothemba Shezi (22) was found at the river near the Phuthaditjhaba golf course on Thursday morning. His body was spotted by a community member who was passing by near the river. Shezi, who was a third-year Bachelor of Education (BEd) student at the University of the Free State Qwaqwa Campus, was allegedly kidnapped a fortnight ago by about eight men who carried knobkieries. Apparently he was walking along the R57 road to the university with his friend when the men started to chase them and got away. His friend ran faster than them, but unfortunately Shezi was caught. Prof. Prakash Naidoo, the campus principal, has expressed his deepest sympathy to Shezi’s family and friends on behalf of the university community. “On Thursday morning we received the news that the student who had gone missing, was finally found. We wish to thank all students and staff members, the entire community of Phuthaditjhaba and the South African Police Service (SAPS) for their efforts. This has not been an easy week for all of us,” Naidoo told the university website. A day or two after Shezi had been kidnapped, angry students caused havoc on the busy R57, demanding the police go out and search for their fellow student. It is reported that most of them felt that the police were not doing enough, while others wanted to be given permission to search for him. One of the students, who prefers to remain anonymous, told Express Eastern Free State that the students suspected that Shezi had been taken to an initiation school since
ANGRY: Fuming students of the University of the Free State Qwaqwa Campus during their recent march to the Phuthaditjhaba Police Station in Qwaqwa. the men who had kidnapped him were in traditional blankets and carried knobkieries. After two to three days of students fighting with the police, with rubber bullets and stones flying, the students marched to the Phuthaditjhaba Police Station on Wednesday to submit memorandums of grievances to the SAPS and the Maluti-a-Phofung Local Municipality (MAP). Among the things listed on the memorandum directed to the SAPS the students instructed the police to find Shezi within 24 hours and they gave the police two days to tell them what had happened to the cases they have been reporting
since 2010. Thulasizwe Sithole, SRC president, said they hoped they (the police and municipality) would read the memorandum and come up with positive responses. “We had a few meetings with them before the march. So we thought they would be aware that we were serious about handing a memorandum to them,” he said. “We want the police to accommodate our Zulu-speaking students, because they have encountered language problems with some of the police officers not willing to speak English. We want them to give us feedback when the cases have been opened.”
They requested MAP to activate cameras and make sure that all street lights work. “The municipality should cut off the trees on the road to the university, because the criminals are hiding there. We have street lights on that road, but some of the light are not working and we want the municipality to work on them,” he said. Sgt Mmako Mophiring, police spokesperson, requested the community to assist in the investigation. “No one has been arrested yet and the police request members of the community to come forward with information,” he said.
THE late Sinothemba Shezi, who was a thirdyear Bachelor of Edu cation (BEd) student at the Univer sity of the Free State Qwaqwa Campus.