EFFYC and students demand the alleged perpetrator suspended. Image credit: The Mail & Guardian.
(The Post News)- The Economic Freedom Fighter Youth Command (EFFYC) Soshanguve Branch condemn, in the strongest possible terms, the repugnant acts of alleged sexual harassment perpetrated by a lecturer Prince Masedi from ICT 1ST Year & Foundation Unit Tshwane University of Technology (TUT) Department against a student.
The student movement says it believes that the incident is not merely an isolated incident of misconduct. “It is a profound crisis fueled by institutional negligence and a deliberate failure of accountability”.
“We stand in absolute solidarity with the victim and every survivor who has been silenced by this institution’s bureaucratic red tape. The lecturer’s actions constitute an abuse of power, a fundamental violation of trust, and a violent attack on the safety and academic future of our students”, EFFSC wrote in a statement.
The student organization declares the campus environment, under the current oversight, to be UNSAFE if predators are protected by paperwork and delays.
EFFYC and Students Reveal This Is Not the First Incident
Students from all spheres of the university demand the alleged perpetrator to be suspended to allow investigations to take place. “The lecturer must be suspended so that all legal investigation and disciplinary committees conduct these process fair and transparently”, said TUT Student Naledi Mapena.
The organization possess information, which must be immediately and transparently investigated, indicating that this same lecturer was reported to CPS (Campus Protection Services) in 2023 for similar conduct. At that time, nothing decisive was done.
“This inaction by the university and CPS is not incompetence, however , it is complicity. Every day the university stalled, they facilitated further potential harm. The system is protecting the predator, not the student body”, EFFYC wrote in a statement.
TUT EFFYC outlined their non-negotiable demands to the University and Campus Control Services (CPS), to be implemented with immediate effect. These are the non-negotiable demands:
1. IMMEDIATE AND PERMANENT EXPULSION: We demand the immediate and public dismissal of the accused lecturer. This must be a termination, not a suspension or paid leave.
2. CRIMINAL PROSECUTION: The University must immediately provide all evidence to assist the student in pursuing criminal charges, ensuring institutional resources support the victim, not the perpetrator.
3. CPS ACCOUNTABILITY: We demand that CPS and the relevant disciplinary committees be immediately restructured. The individuals who handled and subsequently ignored the 2023 complaint must be identified, subjected to internal investigation for dereliction of duty, and removed from their posts. Their failure contributed directly to the current crisis.
4. ZERO-TOLERANCE PROTOCOL: A new, enforceable, and transparent Zero-Tolerance Protocol must be established, guaranteeing that any credible complaint of sexual harassment results in immediate suspension and a rapid disciplinary hearing concluded within 10 working days.
5. PUBLIC ACKNOWLEDGEMENT: The University Executive must issue a public apology for its systemic failure to protect students and its complicity in allowing a repeat offender to remain on staff following the 2023 report.
The allegations against the lecturer have once again highlighted the urgent need for higher education institutions in collaboration with The Department of Higher Education and Training (DHET) to strengthen measures that protect students from abuse of power and sexual exploitation. The EFF Student Command’s firm stance underscores the growing demand for accountability and transparency within academia.
Both the university and law enforcement face mounting pressure to ensure that justice is served and that no student’s academic progress is ever tied to coercion or fear. This case serves as a stark reminder that institutions must not only condemn gender-based violence in words, but also act decisively to eradicate it from their campuses.
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