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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