An outcry has erupted on social media after news broke of a Wits student who was allegedly raped three weeks ago with nothing being done about it. The incident has been said to have taken place at Junction Residence, Parktown.
#RapeAtJunction became the trending Twitter hashtag yesterday after students confronted residence management on Wednesday night. Students wanted to know why nothing had been done and the incident swept under the carpet. Students were also unhappy to know that the accused student was still on campus and living in the residence.
Robert Sharman, Director of Campus Housing and Residence Life, addressed the students. He said, “I do not have all the details and I don’t think any or many of you have all the details.” At which point students interrupted him asking why. Students also confronted Thokozani Manyange, Junction Residence Cluster Manager. Manyange told students that “If you knew all the details of the matter you would not feel unsafe.”
From yesterday evening to this morning there has been 1500 tweets with #RapeAtJunction. People have taken to Twitter to voice their opinions and outrage. The most popular tweet with 880 likes and 1 400 retweets came from a man who said, “Stop👏telling👏women👏how👏not👏to👏get👏raped👏and👏start👏telling👏perpetrators👏not👏to👏rape👏.”
Taken from Hashtagtracking
Yesterday evening a house meeting was called at Junction Residence. The meeting took place at 19:00 in the Games room. Sharman was present at the meeting and tried to address students. However when Sharman tried to speak, the students’ demand for him to apologise drowned out anything he said.
Students at the meeting demand that those who perpetrate rape culture apologise for their actions #RapeAtJunction pic.twitter.com/xdINQK53OT
— Shaeera Kalla (@shaeera_k) November 17, 2016
Xola Nohaji-Mkoko, a fifth year medical student, also spoke at the meeting. Nohaji-Mkoko confronted Sharman about the manner in which the incident has been handled. She said, “What about telling a rapist that he is a dog and must exit the premises.” Nohaji-Mkoko went around the room pointing out staff members and told them individually how they had failed students. She also said, “You are fortunate that what we are seeking is justice and not revenge.”
This girl is everything. @XolaNohajimkoko taking Rob on #RapeAtJunction pic.twitter.com/T8XC8IJrJo
— Azra Karim (@AzraKarim) November 17, 2016
Yesterday the University of Witswatersrand (Wits) released a statement addressing the concerns of students. It said, “The matter is being investigated by the Gender Equity Office (GEO) in line with the University’s Sexual Harassment, Sexual Assault and Rape Policy.”
Wits confirmed that they have been working with the student and has urged everyone to respect the confidentiality of the student. Further it said, “The University has committed to a zero tolerance approach to sexual violence and harassment.”
In South Africa rape culture is a serious problem. The 2016 crime statistics released by the South African Police Service revealed that sexual offences decreased over the last two years. Although with that said, between April 2015 and March 2016 there were 51 895 reported cases of sexual offence. This statistic is still not a true representation as it does not account for all the cases that are never reported.
