A University of Cape Town student was killed during a robbery on Clifton 3rd Beach over the weekend.
Cebo Mhleli Mbatha, 19, was stabbed in the chest by two men on Saturday September 28 while trying to fight the perpetrators who robbed him and other students of their cellphones. Another male student was stabbed in the leg while two women students who were with them, managed to escape unscathed.
The second student who was stabbed was treated in hospital and has since been discharged.
UCT spokesperson, Elijah Mohololo, said Mr Mbatha was a first-year humanities student originally from KwaZulu-Natal.
He said the university was deeply distraught that their students, and citizens in general, continued to be affected by violent crime which remains a scourge that needs to be “confronted and eliminated from our society”.
“The university will continue engaging with the relevant provincial and national authorities to continue the fight against violent crime. We need to reclaim our public spaces as safe spaces where our students and all South Africans can go about their daily activities and move freely without being subjected to violent crime,” said Mr Mohololo.
He said they have been in contact with the Mr Mbatha’s family and have conveyed their deepest condolences to them.
“We are offering the family our support on the tragic passing of their son, who died shortly after being stabbed and before he could be taken to hospital,” he said.
He said the university’s depart-
ment of student affairs, through its student wellness service, had provided the surviving students with counselling support, as well as to students who were close friends of Mr Mbatha.
Further counselling support will be provided to affected fellow
students who live in the same residence as Mr Mbatha, as well as his classmates.
Police spokesperson, Lieutenant Colonel André Traut, said the suspects who attacked the victims were yet to be arrested and the matter was being investigated.
Ward 54 councillor Nicola Jowell said in a Facebook post that this incident needed swift action by SAPS with arrests and also preventative measures to ensure that something like this didn’t happen again.
“SAPS remain the primary agency mandated to deal with safety and security issues but increasingly the City is trying to deploy resources to make up for the shortfalls. I have engaged with both SAPS and Alderman JP Smith on the issue. We need to ensure increased preventative policing,” she said.
Meanwhile, in another incident in Camps Bay on Monday evening, September 30, a passer-by was injured in an altercation involving three youth.
According to police spokesperson, Captain FC Van Wyk, a passer-by tried to intervene in an altercation between three young people aged 15, 16 and 18 from Bloekombos and was hit over the head with a brick.
Camps Bay SAPS members in the vicinity arrested an 18 year old on a charge of assault with the intent to do grievous bodily harm.
He is due to appear in the Cape Town Magistrate’s Court soon on these charges.
