A student of the Durban University of Technology (DUT) who was allegedly frustrated by being defunded by the National Student Financial Aid Scheme (NSFAS) has taken his own life.
The male student, whose name will be withheld until his family has been informed, took his own life on Tuesday morning at the Steve Biko campus in central Durban.
He jumped from the 5th floor of the campus and died instantly after hitting the ground.
In a video that was taken by one of the students who was on the campus at the time, the dead student first waved the peace sign, smiled and jumped to his death.
Eye-witness account
The student who recorded the video is heard telling those who were next to her that the dead student was perhaps joking and he was not going to jump to his death. A few seconds later, he jumped and died, sparking commotion on the campus as fellow students could not believe what they had just seen.
A student leader told the Sunday World that prior to taking his life, the student expressed frustration about being defunded, meaning that he had to leave the university and cancel his studies.
“We believe that his frustration stems from the fact that he was defunded because there was a registration glitch early this year and NSFAS could not accommodate the group that enrolled late. The university registered this group of students in February, long before the closing date of the registration,” said the student leader who tipped the Sunday World about the incident and asked to remain anonymous.
In an internal memo, the university confirmed the incident and pleaded for calm, saying the police are investigating the incident.
“We are aware of reports already circulating on social media regarding this tragedy, and we humbly request that you remain respectful and not share unverified information. The South African Police Service was on campus in response to this tragic incident,” reads the memo.