Students live in fear
Students often fall prey to criminals because they rent outside campus, where there is no security.
A Tshwane University of Technology (TUT) Soshanguve campus student is traumatised after she was almost raped during a robbery.
Lindiwe Shongwe (not her real name), who shares a house with five other students, said a burglar broke into the house in Soshanguve Block M last Sunday, while she was alone.
Shongwe said the burglar searched the other rooms before forcing open the door to the room she had locked herself in.
“I could hear there was someone in the house, but I knew it was not my housemates. I panicked. I then sent my friend who lives nearby an SMS and told him to rush to the house,” said Shongwe.
“The first thing the burglar said was ‘give me your laptop’. I told him I did not own one. He took my camera, voice recorder, cellphone and the R300 from my purse,” she said.
Shongwe told Record the burglar then demanded she take off her clothes.
“I tried to run away, but fell. He pulled out a knife and told me I was not his first victim and said he would kill me if I did not do as he said,” said Shongwe.
She said she took her clothes off.
“I closed my eyes in terror, knowing that the worst would follow,” she said.
But the friend Shongwe had sent an SMS to called out her name from outside just in time and the burglar fled.
Shongwe did not report the crime.
Out of thousands of applications received for accommodation, TUT can only place a few in student residences annually.
This forces others to resort to off-campus accommodation.
Soshanguve police spokesperson Reneilwe Makwalo urged students residing outside campus to always rent places that were secured.
She said in the past, the police had a campaign at TUT Soshanguve campus to enlighten students about crime in the area.
Edwin Nkosi, caretaker at the students’ accommodation, said he was not around when the incident occurred.
He said he planned to beef up security at the residence.
All the students have since moved out of the house.
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