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29

M U T

S P I R I T

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J A N U A R Y - M A R C H 2 0 2 0

MUT students march to demand justice for Zolile and raise

GBV awareness

It was 06h00 on Monday, 2 March

outside the Lonsdale Residence in

Durban’s South Beach and members of

the eThekwini Metro Police had already

started cordoning off a section of the

road where it would all begin. This was

the starting point for a march to the

Durban High Court to demand justice for

the murder of slain MUT student, Zolile

Khumalo.

The Lonsdale Residence was carefully

chosen as the starting point for the march

to symbolise taking Zolile’s spirit from

where she was murdered to the court

where her murderer, Thabani Mzolo, was going to

appear. Monday also marked an important day in the

trial: Judge Nompumelelo Radebe was going to start

delivering judgement on the case, which has been in

court for two years.

“Our students were part of this trial from the beginning

when Zolile’s murderer appeared in court for the first

time,” said Mbali Mkhize, Senior Director: Marketing

and Communications. “The march was an opportunity

to reaffirm the University’s stance against GBV and to

make it clear that MUT will not tolerate GBV or any

acts of abuse.”

Although it was business as usual on campus, with

lectures continuing as scheduled, the march was

too important for some students to miss. It was an

opportunity to raise awareness about the scourge of

Gender-Based Violence (GBV) in the busy streets of

Durban’s city centre and to demand justice for a fellow

student who was now part of the statistics of those

who had lost their lives to GBV.

Students started trickling in as small numbers were

being dropped off by buses organised to bring

students to the march. Each of these students walked

into Lonsdale Residence first to pick up their black

T-shirts in line with the all-black dress code which

has become a uniform for any activity against GBV at

MUT. A voice on the loud hailer called on all students

to get into their positions as the march was beginning.

Meanwhile, the marshals in their reflector jackets

formed a line that would be the barrier between the

marching students and the cars using the other side

of the road.

The police led the march with vehicles and motorbikes,

the crowd following behind them with song and dance.

When the march got to the middle of Anton Lembede

Street (Smith Street), a rhythm was now developed

which was the highlight of the march. It was song,

dance, singing while sitting down in the middle of

the road and humming. The busy street came to a

halt with spectators from buildings on both sides of

the road coming out in their numbers to watch. The

message on the placards said it all: There is no place

for gender-based violence at MUT.

At the end of the march, across the road from the

Durban High Court, students demanded to get into

the court to watch as judgement was handed down.

The students could not enter the court because it was

full, so they waited across the road from the court and

met the Khumalo family to show their support, as they

have done throughout the trial.

Their patience and dedication were rewarded when

they were back outside the Durban High Court again

on Thursday, 5 March, when Mzolo was sentenced to

life in prison for taking Zolile’s life. As they exited the

court after the sentencing, the Khumalo family was

greeted by a group of MUT students who were singing

outside the court, celebrating the sentence which was

a long-awaited positive step in the struggle.

MUT students giving support to the Khumalo family, and saying NO to GBV