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Murder of Uyinene Mrwetyana

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55-594: Uyinene " Nene " Mrwetyana (20 April 2000 – 24 August 2019) was a South African student at the University of Cape Town . On August 24, 2019, she was raped and murdered in the suburb of Claremont, Cape Town . Her murder highlighted the broader national problem of gender based violence and femicide in South Africa, and is credited with "shifting the South African collective consciousness" and "igniting

110-430: A high school for young men. The college had a small tertiary-education facility, introduced in 1874 that grew substantially after 1880, when the discovery of gold and diamonds in the north – and the resulting demand for skills in mining – gave it the financial boost it needed to grow. The college developed into a fully fledged university during the period 1880 to 1900, thanks to increased funding from private sources and

165-483: A deliberate and planned process of internal transformation. From the 1980s to the early 1990s, the number of black students admitted to the university rose by 35 percent. By 2004, nearly half of UCT's 20,000 students were black and just under half of the student body was female. Today the university boasts having one of the most diverse campuses in South Africa . Rhodes Must Fall (#RhodesMustFall on social media)

220-587: A movement". Mrwetyana was born in East London, Eastern Cape to parents Noma and Philip Mrwetyana. She grew up in the suburb of Beacon Bay in East London and attended Hudson Park Primary School in [Vincent], where she chaired the school's student council and was awarded the "Hudsonian of the Year" award. Mrwetyana attended high school at Kingswood College where she graduated in 2018, posthumously receiving

275-577: Is a sex offender registry in South Africa which contains the details of people convicted of sexual offences against children or mentally disabled people. Those listed on the register are prohibited from working with children or the mentally disabled, and from adopting children or acting as foster parents. The register is not accessible to the public. The NRSO was created by Chapter 6 of the Criminal Law (Sexual Offences and Related Matters) Amendment Act, 2007 . It came into being on 30 June 2009 under

330-586: Is a coordinating and decision-making structure composed of senior executives of the university who oversee the day-to-day running of the university. It contrasts with the University Council which arises from the University Statute and exercises supreme governance over the university. The Leadership Lekgotla's members are senior executives who oversee different areas of the university's operations and policies.  The most senior executive

385-574: Is also home to the main library, The Chancellor Oppenheimer Library, which holds the majority of the university's 1.3 million volume collection. Contiguous with Upper Campus, but separated from it by university sports fields and the M3 expressway , are the Middle and Lower Campuses. These campuses, which are spread through the suburbs of Rondebosch , Rosebank and Mowbray , contain the Law Faculty ,

440-552: Is composed of three tiers. Students living in residence are placed in a tier according to the length of time that they have been in the residence system, studying in the university and service or part-time employment in a residence. As a student progresses through their academic journey they are moved into a higher tier. Postgraduate students are usually housed in the third-tier residences unless employed in lower-tier residences. First-tier residences: Second-tier residences: Third-tier residences: The University of Cape Town

495-1013: Is located on the Medical School campus next to the Groote Schuur Hospital in Observatory . The Fine Arts and Drama departments are located on the Hiddingh Campus in central Cape Town . The university's original building, now known as the Egyptian Building , on the Hiddingh campus, was built in the Egyptian Revival style. The only other campus built in this style was the Medical College of Virginia in Richmond, Virginia in

550-596: Is managed by the Investment Office. Through the Distinguishing UCT fundraising campaign, the university is trying to raise its endowment. As of 2019, its designated endowment stands at R2.5 billion and its undesignated endowment stands at R676 million with R133 million raised for infrastructure projects (bringing the total undesignated endowment to R809 million which the university aims to increase to R1 billion). There have been several campaigns at

605-865: Is the Vice Chancellor (ranked below the Chancellor in the ceremonial protocol and order of precedence of the university) is the de facto head and chief executive of the university, (currently held by Mosa Moshabela ), who is accountable to the council. Below the Vice Chancellor are the Deputy Vice Chancellors of Transformation (currently Professor Elelwani Ramugondo ), of Research and Internationalisation (currently Susanne Harris ) and of Teaching and Learning (currently Professor Harsha Kathard, acting ). The Chief Operations Officer, currently Reno Morar, brings together and oversees

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660-713: The City of Cape Town , Convocation, Premier of the Western Cape and the Minister of Higher Education among others, and the presiding officer of the council, the chair, is currently Mr Norman Arendse (SC). The Registrar, who acts as the secretary of the Council and Senate, oversees academic registration and legal matters, and administers the Convocation, is currently Royston Pillay. The Convocation, composed of alumni ,

715-823: The Global University Leaders Forum (GULF) within the World Economic Forum , which is made up of 26 of the world's top universities. Five alumni , staff members, and researchers associated with UCT have won the Nobel Prize . 88 staff members are part of the Academy of Sciences of South Africa . The University of Cape Town was founded at a meeting in the Groote Kerk in 1829 as the South African College ,

770-816: The National Register for Sex Offenders to stem sexual and physical violence against women and children. Moreover, the Uyinene Mrwetyana Foundation was established and a special fund in her name was created to provide scholarships to female students in the Humanities Faculty. In March 2020, UCT opened the Neuroscience Institute at the Groote Schuur Hospital in collaboration with the Western Cape Provincial Government ,

825-467: The South African College of Music , the School of Economics, most of the student residences, most of the university administrative offices, and various sporting facilities. The state of the art artificial grass soccer field has been approved by FIFA for training for World Cup teams. The Upper, Middle and Lower Campuses together are often referred to as the "main campus". The Faculty of Health Sciences

880-711: The Table Mountain fire in April 2021; the Jagger Library building, which housed rare books and documents including a large African Studies collection, was gutted. The university has 19 student residences (or "res" as known colloquially), offering both single-gender and mixed-gender housing. The Department of Student Housing oversees the residence system College House is the oldest university residence in Africa , having been established in 1887. UCT's residence system

935-676: The Vice Chancellor , Deputy Vice Chancellors, academic staff, emeritus professors and emeritus associate professors, is a statutory body administered by the Office of the Registrar, which provides a platform for former members of the university to participate and engage with matters affecting the university. Helmed by the President of the Convocation, currently Mr Kassi Carl Manlan, it can make recommendations and pass non-binding resolutions in its Annual General Meetings. The Leadership Lekgotla

990-655: The oldest university in Sub-Saharan Africa in continuous operation. UCT is organised in 57 departments across six faculties offering bachelor's ( NQF 7 ) to doctoral degrees ( NQF 10 ) solely in the English language . Home to 30,000 students, it encompasses six campuses in the Capetonian suburbs of Rondebosch , Hiddingh, Observatory , Mowbray , and the Waterfront. It is the only African member of

1045-459: The rugby union team, are known as the " Ikey Tigers " or the "Ikeys". The "Ikey" nickname originated in the 1910s as an antisemitic epithet applied to UCT students by the students of Stellenbosch University , because of the supposed large number of Jewish students at UCT. Stellenbosch is UCT's traditional rugby opponent; an annual "Intervarsity" match is played between the two universities. The University of Cape Town Football Club also known as

1100-404: The "Ikeys Warriors" is the main team for association football (soccer), representing the university at tournaments such as Varsity Football . As of 2007 there were more than 80 student societies at UCT, falling into five categories: In addition to the plethora of student societies, there are several student organisations dedicated to the development of communities surrounding the university in

1155-747: The Cape Metropolitan Area. Some of the biggest include: SHAWCO , Ubunye and RAG. Recently, several students movements have developed, such as the Green Campus Initiative . The university received a rank of 198 in the 2019 QS World University Rankings , a rank of 156 in the 2019 Times Higher Education World University Rankings , and a rank of 201–300 in the Shanghai Academic Ranking of World Universities . National Register for Sex Offenders The National Register for Sex Offenders ( NRSO )

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1210-640: The Palestinian Solidarity Front and the SRC called on the university's management to divest from Israeli companies and organisations working in the Palestinian Occupied Territories (among other demands), which, in the end, the university refused to do. The university's income comes from a combination of government grants, tuition fees, donations, investment and research income. In the 2017–2018 financial year,

1265-550: The Senate began a widespread curriculum reform process and the university began the process of the renaming of buildings on campus (the most notable example was when Jameson Hall was renamed to Sarah Baartman Hall in 2019). In September 2019, Film and Media studies student Uyinene Mrwetyana went missing. After the community and police began searching, her body was discovered in the Cape Flats area of Cape Town and Luyanda Botha

1320-741: The South African collective consciousness". On 29 November 2019, The Uyinene Mrwetyana Foundation was founded in Makhanda, Eastern Cape in celebration of her life. The Uyinene Mrwetyana Scholarship was also founded for female students in the Humanities faculty at the University of Cape Town, and was later first awarded to Luhlanganiso Majebe in July 2021. Following protests and uproar after Mrwetyana's death, President Cyril Ramaphosa announced reforms such as harsher punishments for sex offenders and

1375-688: The UCT Graduate School of Business maintains substantial latitude over its internal affairs despite being nominally part of the Faculty of Commerce. The interdisciplinary School of Information Technology, comprising the Departments of Information Systems and of Computer Science in the Commerce and Science faculties is neither a faculty nor a department but a coordinating mechanism to promote IT education and research. The departments of

1430-806: The United States. The UCT Graduate School of Business is located on the Breakwater Lodge Campus at the Victoria & Alfred Waterfront . The Baxter Theatre Centre , located on the Lower Campus, is part of the University of Cape Town; it is also the second largest performing arts complex in Cape Town , after the Artscape Theatre Centre . It has three venues: For his contribution of the tract of land which

1485-418: The arts departments), as well as Smuts Hall and Fuller Hall residences . Upper Campus is centered on Sarah Baartman Hall, the location for graduation and other ceremonial events, as well as many examinations. The original buildings and layout of Upper Campus were designed by JM Solomon and built between 1928 and 1930. Since that time, many more buildings have been added as the university has grown. Upper Campus

1540-475: The campus was founded on, a bronze statue of Cecil Rhodes was erected in 1934 on the Upper Campus, overlooking the university's rugby fields. The statue was removed in April 2015 following pressure from student groups due to its representation of South Africa 's colonialist apartheid past and the university's inadequate representation of black students, faculty, and staff. The upper campus was affected by

1595-875: The demographic makeup of the staff body. The five-year plan specified specific targets ranging from between about 5% to 10% adjustments in the representation of SA black staff. According to the plan the staff makeup would have changed by 2015 by achieving either parity or more SA black staff than SA white in all categories other than senior lecturer and professor positions. UCT spokesperson Elijah Moholola noted that, in 2017, UCT employed 45 white professors, 38 black African, Cape Coloured or Indian South African professors, 67 foreign national professors and 7 who did not disclose their race. Student enrolment by population group 2009–2013, showing percentage growth on base: UCT had 36 different sports clubs in 2003, including team sports , individual sports , extreme sports and martial arts . The university's sports teams, in particular

1650-524: The establishment of the Medical School, the introduction of engineering courses and a Department of Education. UCT was formally established as a university in 1918, on the basis of the Alfred Beit bequest and additional substantial gifts from mining magnates Julius Wernher and Otto Beit . The new university also attracted substantial support from well-wishers in the Cape Town area and, for

1705-572: The faculties are listed as follows: Faculty of Commerce Faculty of Engineering and the Built Environment Faculty of Health Sciences Faculty of Humanities Faculty of Law Faculty of Science The university's endowment (the financial capital and investment funds on which it can draw to carry out its work) is deposited with the UCT Foundation (a legally independent nonprofit organisation) and it

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1760-481: The faculties in academic matters over their internal protocol and management such as on matters concerning class timetables, admission requirements, academic exclusion, examinations, research projects and so on. Faculties vary substantially in student size and in buildings occupied, with the Commerce faculty having the highest student population and the law faculty having the lowest while the Humanities faculty spans

1815-474: The first dedicated cross- and interdisciplinary centre for the study of and development of treatments for neurological and mental disorders in Africa . The main teaching campus , known as Upper Campus, is located on the Rhodes Estate on the slopes of Devil's Peak . This campus contains, in a relatively compact site, the faculties of Science , Engineering , Commerce , and Humanities (except for

1870-435: The first time, a significant state grant. In 1928, the university was able to move the bulk of its facilities to Groote Schuur on the slopes of Devil's Peak, on land bequeathed to the nation by Cecil John Rhodes as the site for a national university. UCT celebrated its centenary the following year. Apart from establishing itself as a leading research and teaching university in the decades that followed, UCT earned itself

1925-490: The functional, support and technical areas of the university's operations. The university is composed of six Faculties (Commerce, Engineering and the Built Environment, Health Sciences, Law, Sciences and Humanities) which together comprise 57 departments. Faculties are helmed by a Dean and their administrative and operational matters are administered by a Director. The Senate has delegated substantial powers to

1980-486: The government. During these years, the college built its first dedicated science laboratories, and started the departments of mineralogy and geology to meet the need for skilled personnel in the country's emerging diamond and gold-mining industries. The UCT crest was designed in 1859 by Charles Davidson Bell , Surveyor-General of the Cape Colony at the time. Bell was an accomplished artist who also designed medals and

2035-411: The most buildings followed by the Faculty of Health Sciences with the Commerce and Law faculties having (by far) the lowest physical footprint. Notwithstanding interdisciplinary research units and centers, additional academic structures exist that eschew the faculty-based organisational structure. The multidisciplinary Center for Higher Education Development ranks on an equal level as the faculties and

2090-408: The news of Mrwetyana's death. University of Cape Town The University of Cape Town ( UCT ) ( Afrikaans : Universiteit van Kaapstad , Xhosa : iYunivesithi yaseKapa ) is a public research university in Cape Town , South Africa . Established in 1829 as the South African College , it was granted full university status in 1918, making it the oldest university in South Africa and

2145-422: The next day which gathered an attendance of several thousand people. The hashtag #AmINext gained prominence during this time and was a major motive behind several of the protests. Mrwetyana's death as well as the rape and death of other women precipitated widespread public outcry that led to a two-day campus shutdown at the University of Cape Town. Mrwetyana's death "ignited a movement" and is known to have "shifted

2200-453: The nickname "Moscow on the Hill" during the period 1960 to 1990 for its sustained opposition to apartheid, particularly in higher education . The university admitted its first small group of black students in the 1920s. The number of black students remained relatively low until the 1980s and 90s, when the institution, reading and welcoming the signs of change in the country, committed itself to

2255-407: The official closing time, Botha locked the door behind her and began to violate her. He raped her and attempted to strangle her, before ultimately bludgeoning her to death with a two kilogram weight targeting her head and eventually knocking her unconscious. He returned the following day to retrieve her body and drove to a nearby field where he doused her body with petrol and set it on fire. Mrwetyana

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2310-500: The public disclosure of the National Register for Sex Offenders to stem sexual and physical violence against women and children. In September 2019, Meghan, Duchess of Sussex secretly visited the post office where Mrwetyana was murdered, while touring South Africa with her husband, Prince Harry . In that same month, hundreds of South Africans gathered to protest against gender-based violence in Times Square , New York City after

2365-543: The rape and murder of Mrwetyana. He will be eligible for parole after serving 25 years of his sentence. Following Botha's arrest, remembrances and memorial services were held at the University of Cape Town, and University of Witwatersrand . A large protest occurred at the World Economic Forum on Africa in Cape Town on 4 September where South African President Cyril Ramaphosa was present. Ramaphosa also attended an even larger protest outside Houses of Parliament, Cape Town

2420-562: The school's own Neil Aggett Memorial Award in 2020. She began studying film and media at the University of Cape Town soon after graduating high school. On 24 August 2019, Mrwetyana had been told by a post office attendant and her future killer, Luyanda Botha, that her parcel was not ready for collection and that she should come back later in the afternoon, despite the post office closing at 1pm. Botha had planned his attack in advance, arranging with his post office colleague, Soraya Abdullah for her to leave work earlier. When Mrwetyana arrived after

2475-443: The triangular Cape stamp. Another key development during this period was the admission of women. In 1886 the professor of chemistry, Paul Daniel Hahn , convinced the council to admit four women into his chemistry class on a trial basis. Owing to the exceptional standard of work by the women students, the college decided to admit women students permanently in honour of Queen Victoria's Diamond Jubilee in 1887. The years 1902 to 1918 saw

2530-866: The university received R1.415 billion in state subsidies, R1.428 billion in tuition fees and R539 million in other income. R1.2 billion was committed to student financial aid for both undergraduate and postgraduate students from the university, the government through the NSFAS scheme and the university's partners and donors. As of 2018 , there were 27,907 students; 25% of whom were black South African, 22% were white South African, 18% identified as another race, 15% were international students . In 2016 there were 29,074 students enrolled (18,421 undergraduates and 10,653 postgraduates) and 4,542 staff were employed (1,179 academic and 3,363 professional, administrative, support and service staff). The UCT Employment Equity Plan April (2010 to 2015) indicated moderate but consistent changes in

2585-478: The university to divest its endowment. Fossil Free UCT was formally established in 2015 as a campaign by environmental activism lobbying groups and student organisations, most notably the Green Campus Initiative compel UCT to divest from fossil fuel companies which resulted in a non-binding resolution passed by UCT's Convocation in 2017 to support the divestment. Student lobby groups, most notably

2640-466: The university, and to represent the university to the rest of the world. The current Chancellor is fashion entrepreneur and philanthropist Precious Moloi-Motsepe who was elected in November 2019 and assumed the role on 1 January 2020 after the expiration of Ms Graça Machel 's second consecutive 10-year term. The University Council is the highest ranked decision-making and appointative structure in

2695-582: The university. With wide-ranging powers of governance over areas such as the strategy, well-being and mission of the university, it is directly accountable to the Government of the Republic through the Minister of Higher Education , currently Nobuhle Nkabane for matters relating to the university. It is composed of 30 broad stakeholder representatives such as students, academics, staff and appointees of

2750-474: Was a protest movement that began on 9 March 2015, originally directed against a statue at the University of Cape Town (UCT) that commemorates Cecil Rhodes . The campaign for the statue's removal received global attention and led to a wider movement to " decolonise " education across South Africa . On 9 April 2015, following a UCT Council vote the previous night, the statue was removed. # FeesMustFall

2805-627: Was a student protest movement which was arguably indirectly inspired by the RhodesMustFall. It formally began at the University of the Witwatersrand and spread to UCT and Rhodes University and then the rest of the South African universities. It called for the abolition of tuition fee increases for the 2016 academic year. Diverse demands arose such as the abolition of fees and decolonisation of higher education which led to substantial changes at South African public universities. At UCT,

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2860-535: Was arrested and convicted for her rape and murder. Her death and the rape and death of other women precipitated widespread public outcry that led to a campus shutdown and protests on campus , at the Parliament precinct in Cape Town CBD and at campuses around South Africa . Subsequently, President Ramaphosa announced reforms such as harsher punishments for sex offenders and the public disclosure of

2915-476: Was discovered on the 26th but was only identified as hers a few days later. A suspect, later identified as post office employee Luyanda Botha, was arrested and confessed to the Wynberg Magistrate's Court of committing the murder at a post office in Claremont. Following his arrest and subsequent confession, Botha was found to have raped and strangled her, before ultimately bludgeoning her to death. On 15 November 2019, Luyanda Botha received three life sentences for

2970-435: Was last seen in Claremont leaving a minibus taxi outside Clareinch Post Office soon before her death. She was missing for nine days and received a large amount of media coverage and public attention in Cape Town. It was during this time that the hashtag #BringNeneHome started trending on social media. Mrwetyana's body was found in a hole beside an unused railway track in the township of Lingelethu West in Khayelitsha . It

3025-412: Was originally incorporated as a public university by a private act of Parliament in 1918. At present it is incorporated and structured by an institutional statute issued under the provisions of the Higher Education Act, 1997 . The titular head of the university is the chancellor ; this is a ceremonial position without executive power. The primary role of the chancellor is to confer degrees on behalf of

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