Nzimande to launch gender-based violence programme following murder of TUT student

Minister of Higher Education, Science and Technology Blade Nzimande

• Blade Nzimande will launch a gender-based violence awareness programme following the murder of TUT student, Ntokozo Xaba.
• Xaba was stabbed to death and her ex-boyfriend has been identified as a suspect.
• Nzimande is expected to release the Ministerial Task Team report on sexual harassment and gender-based violence in the university sector soon.

Minister of Higher Education, Science and Technology Blade Nzimande will launch a gender-based violence awareness programme, following the murder of Tshwane University of Technology (TUT) third-year student Ntokozo Xaba.

Nzimande conveyed his condolences to Xaba’s family and friends, as well as the TUT community, and directed Higher Health to join the institution’s wellness team in providing the family with psycho-social support.

Nzimande added that he was “pleased by the swift response of the law enforcement agencies”, which detained a man for questioning in connection with Xaba’s death.

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He said violence against women and girls was a global pandemic, affecting one-in-three women in their lifetime and added that global figures indicated that as many as 38% of murders of women were committed by an intimate partner.

“This issue is not only devastating for survivors of violence and their families, but also entails significant social and economic costs and has dire implications for the post-school education and training sector (PSET),” the minister said.

“As part of dealing with gender-based violence in our institutions, I will be launching the ‘Transforming MENtalities Initiative’, which will be a multi-stakeholder partnership within the PSET, with a particular focus on mobilising men in our sector to be part of championing a world free of gender biases, stereotypes, violence, and discrimination.”

Nzimande also urged Higher Health to ensure that all institutions work with the established multi-sectoral PSET gender-based violence technical task team to ensure the effective implementation of the Department of Higher Education Gender Policy Framework.

READ | TUT tragedy: Blue Bulls player implicated in alleged murder case

Nzimande is expected to release the Ministerial Task Team report on sexual harassment and gender-based violence in the university sector soon.

Xaba was stabbed to death at a TUT residence earlier this month.

She had been socialising with friends and her ex-boyfriend at a house in Pretoria Gardens, said police spokesperson, Colonel Dimakatso Sello.

The next morning, she was found dead. There were stab wounds in her neck.

Sello confirmed that a suspect, believed to be Xaba’s ex, had been taken in for questioning.

News24 previously reported that the Blue Bulls Rugby Union released a statement saying they had been alerted to allegations of a murder case involving a player who represented their Country Districts team last season.