Vice Chancellor of the University of Cape Town Professor Mamokgethi Phakeng says gender-based violence will not stop until men make a conscious decision to change.
Her statement comes after Alutha Pasile made his first court appearance earlier this week for the allegedly murder of University of Fort Hare student Nosicelo Mtebeni.
It also comes two years after the killing of UCT student Uyinene Mrwetyana.
Professor Phakeng says the country’s system cannot protect women from men who choose to abuse them.
“This will not stop until men in our midst because we cannot protect young women everywhere they go. We can’t give a security guard to each one of them when they go and see the men they are dating or they just go to the post office or pick ‘n pay. We talk about gender-based violence every and every time we get a shocking murder such as the one of Nosicelo and Uyinene. If we can raise and transform ordinary men to be good men then this talk will stop,” says Phakeng.
VIDEO: A 25-year-old suspect arrested in connection with Fort Hare student’s murder:
The University of Fort Hare comes to a standstill on Wednesday as they bid farewell to Nosicelo Mtebeni at an official memorial service.
Her remains were put in a suitcase and left on the street in Quigney in East London. The grotesque murder has shocked the nation and again placed the disturbingly high levels of domestic violence in South Africa into sharp focus
Mtebeni was known among her friends as “kortes” meaning shorty in English. But it was a nickname borne out of love.
Her friends speak glowingly of a supportive friend with a huge heart.
Phelo Nkohla met Mtebeni four years ago. He says their friendship quickly developed into a brother/sister type of relationship. It was then at a mutual friend where Mtebeni met Aluta Pasile.
Nkohla told SABC News that the relationship Mtebeni shared with the suspect seemed strange to him, but he gave her space.
Her friends say shortly before her death they also noticed attempts from her to rekindle the close friendship they had.
VIDEO: Night vigil held for murdered Fort Hare University student:
