Johannesburg- Though Nozipho Mnguni has graduated from the Mangosuthu University of Technology (MUT), the sexual violence, which she allegedly suffered at the hands of an academic at the institution, continues to haunt her post-tertiary life.
Mnguni, 23, a chemical engineering graduate, is one of many past and present students who claim they were sodomised and coerced into exchanging sexual favours for marks at the KwaZulu-Natal-based institution located in Umlazi township.
Speaking of her ordeal to Sunday World, she said it all began during her second year of study when the alleged perpetrator would randomly comment about her body, saying, “I can take good care of you”.
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“At first, I didn’t think that something was amiss, and I respected him as a lecturer and somebody I looked up to. I only realised later that he had ulterior motives when I was struggling with my majors, and I was afraid that I would repeat the year and lose my bursary. So, I approached him seeking additional help. He told me to stay behind after lectures.”
Desperate and unaware that the lecturer had other ideas in mind, Mnguni said she complied.
“He said there was an easy way to score good marks and that if I don’t trouble him, he would make sure that I get distinctions and retain my bursary. I was shocked and didn’t know what to say. He subsequently asked that I send him naked pictures. At one stage, he sent me a text telling me to come to one of the lecture halls. He kissed me, fondled my breasts, and told me that I must not worry because he will reward me. The sexual advances went on until I completed my diploma,” she said.
Haunted by the sexual advances, Mnguni confided in her close friend, who was also a peer helper assisting new students to adapt to the tertiary environment, who told her that the practice was widespread.
“She encouraged me to report the matter to student affairs but I was afraid that nobody would believe me,” said Mnguni.
After the allegations and five students at the institution submitting WhatsApp texts purporting to have been sent by one of the lecturers asking for sexual favours from female students, MUT instituted an investigation. The task team also received affidavits from the alleged victims detailing how they were sodomised by the lecturer.
Last year, in the aftermath of the startling claims and to encourage students who are victims of sexual harassment to come forward, MUT launched a campaign dubbed “Hands off Me, Perve #ZeroToleranceOnPerves”.
In one of the messages contained in the anti-sexual harassment poster read: “If a lecturer sends you a message with a sexual overtone and subtly or explicitly demands sexual favours from you in exchange for academic marks, She/He is a perve. That is an act of sexual harassment, and this will not be tolerated at MUT.”
Bheki Hlophe, the university’s media relations officer, said the institution had taken a stance not to conduct any interviews regarding the allegations, saying an internal investigation was underway.
“The university is appealing for your patience as the disciplinary process continues,” said Hlophe.
Nduduzo Shezi, a South African Students Congress leader, said the sex-for-marks phenomenon was widespread across campuses and did not only involve academic staff.
“We have been dealing with cases in which other support staff in universities dealing with student residences would demand sexual favours for accommodation. In many cases, desperate students agree to the advances because finding accommodation at university is difficult,” said Shezi.
Siphesihle Myeza, a gender rights activist and one of the leaders of the 2016 #EndRapeCulture protests, which spread across campuses countrywide, said academics often escaped scot-free in sexual crimes.
“I would say that campus rape culture is encouraged because academics who are found to have sexually harassed students are given light suspensions and before you know it, they are back in the lecture hall to torment the next victim.
“The lecturers assisted by senior management protect each other,” said Myeza.
The #EndRapeCulture was aimed at raising awareness about sexual crimes on campus. The protesters said universities were perpetuating rape culture through policies that reinforced victim-blaming.
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