Over and above the heavy schedule that the new SRC has for the next 12 months or so, now they must deliver a very serious message to the rest of the student body – they must tell the students that they need to be careful when walking in and around the University. This is the takeaway they got from their meeting with Protection Services, the South African Police Service (SAPS), and the local Community Policing Forums on 29 October 2024. The meeting was hosted by the University’s Protection Services. Jackson Rammala, Protection Services’ Director, said they hosted the meeting to share some vital security-related information with the student leaders. “We want to touch base with all the stakeholders responsible for student safety. We want to make sure we have eyes and ears on campus and the external leased residences so we can see where we need to close the gap,” said Rammala. Rammala also said they wanted the students to know who to communicate with when there is a need.
Rammala said the common crime activities, as supported by the annual crime statistics shared by the SAPS, were random shootings, cell phone snatching, mugging, theft, sexual harassment, and robberies. Rammala said most of these happened when it was dark, hence his appeal to the students to walk in groups during the day, and to avoid walking at night.
The student leaders acknowledged the efforts from Protection Services and shared the view that as a collective everyone could contribute to making the University a safer environment. Rammala told the students that it was important for them to report incidents to Protection Services so Protection Services would be able to do what is required to see the cases through. “It must start with you’’ said Rammala. Rammala was supported by Sydney Madida, Izikhova Security Operations Manager. Izikhova Security is the contracted security company on both campuses.