Nelson Mandela University Establishes Campus Community Safety Forum

With student and staff safety a priority in a country where crime, including gender-based violence and femicide are rampant, the University is strengthening security on all seven of its campuses in Gqeberha and George.

The launch comes after President Cyril Ramaphosa’s call for a national initiative to make campuses safe. It follows capacity-building workshops held on the University’s Gqeberha campuses in 2023 and George Campus on 16 to 17 July 2024.

Nelson Mandela University Vice-Chancellor, Professor Sibongile Muthwa said: “As Nelson Mandela University, we fully endorse this collaboration between our University, law enforcement agencies and our various stakeholders to work together in ensuring safer environments for all at our campuses and in our neighbourhoods. It is in our unified responses and coordinated efforts that solutions to realise safer spaces will be truly realised and sustained.”

Deputy Vice-Chancellor for People and Operations, Luthando Jack, highlighted the importance of students and staff being vigilant, but assured them that the University was doing everything it could to ensure their safety.

He said: “We already have substantial safety and security interventions in place and this collaboration with the SAPS takes these further. Crime and violence are not only a threat to learning, they also can have long-lasting physical, emotional and psychological effects on all individuals involved. We care about our students, staff and community and want to keep them safe.”

The launch was attended by a contingent of SAPS representatives, including station commanders of Humewood, Walmer, Mount Road and Algoa Park police stations. Major-General Thokozani Mathonsi, on behalf of the Division: Visible Policing and Operations, said it was important for the SAPS to focus on higher education institutions for proactive policing, given the increase in the number of crimes there.

“The establishment of the Campus Community Safety Forum, which is inclusive of SAPS, Nelson Mandela University and other key stakeholders will give impetus to the implementation of the campus safety programme,” he said. The structure will not only look at crime in and around the institution, but anything that threatens safety and security in the University. After all, he said, “universities are not exempt from crime as they are part of the community and crime has no boundaries”.

Director of the University’s Transformation Office, Dr Ruby-Ann Levendal, said at the launch: “The safe campus project is a national one from which the University will benefit through sharing best practices and lessons learned from initiatives implemented against gender-based violence and femicide.”

The Forum will address issues including:

• Institutionalising community policing within the learning environment
• Policing student protests and related activities
• Standardising campus safety requirements and
• Establishing safety standards.

The Transformation Office, Protection Services and the University’s Communication and Marketing Division are working with students and other stakeholders to further the goals of the Forum.

Future plans include a place of safety to provide a temporary refuge for students who need to leave their residences due to, for example, fear of encountering a perpetrator of gender-based violence.