Johannesburg – One of the gates at the University of Johannesburg is to be renamed in honour of Gloria Sekwena, the mother of a prospective undergraduate student who lost her life during a stampede at the university last year.
Higher Education and Training Deputy Minister, Mduduzi Manana, told SAnews on Monday the university had tabled to its council a proposal to name the gate where the mother had died.
“I think this is great and it has the endorsement of our department,” Manana said, during a visit to the university on Monday.
The visit was aimed at assessing the impact of the Apply now/Khetha Career Guidance Campaign. It was launched last year to encourage prospective first year students to register early following the death of Sekwena.
Manana reported that after the incident, the student, whose mother has passed away, managed to enrol and the university had made a commitment to carry the full cost of his studies. However, the student has since dropped out.
He said the department had communicated with the family and in the next few days will visit the family in Krugersdorp to find out why the student had dropped out.
“It could be many factors… emotional factors relating to the loss of the mother. It could be factors that relate to the inability of the student to gel into the institution. But whatever the case is, we will come closer to the situation….we will meet the family,” Manana said.
Unlike last year, the university’s 2013 registration process has been going smoothly with no hiccups.
Manana also met with the university’s management, visited the registration venues and interacted with the prospective students during his visit.
“There are no long queues and this is a result of the university’s stance not to allow walk-ins,” Manana said, referring to late registrations. – SAnews.gov.za
