University of South Africa (UNISA) students marched to the institution’s main campus in Pretoria on Friday, 4 April 2025, demanding urgent institutional action against gender-based violence (GBV) following the alleged rape of 7-year-old Cwecwe at Bergview College in Matatiele, Eastern Cape.
The march, which began at Sunnyside Police Station, saw students deliver a memorandum demanding Africa’s largest distance learning institution take a stronger stand against GBV.
The National Student Representative Council (NSRC) emphasised that while the victim – identified only as Cwecwe to protect her identity – is not a UNISA student, her case represents South Africa’s broader crisis of violence against women and children, which they described as “an unspeakable tragedy that demands action from all sectors of society”.
The NSRC handed a 10-point memorandum to UNISA management, calling on the university to leverage its academic and social influence to combat South Africa’s GBV crisis.
“As concerned students of UNISA, we call on the university to use its influential voice, national presence, and academic strength to stand in solidarity with Cwecwe and lead meaningful action to combat GBV.” read the memorandum.
The memorandum urged UNISA to host a university-wide vigil, fund GBV survivor support programs and integrate GBV education into the curriculum.
The case has exposed alarming failures in the education system. According to a briefing by the Eastern Cape Department of Education to the South African Parliament’s Portfolio Commitee on 04 April 2025, the school principal waited over a month after learning of the incident in October 2024 before reporting it to education authorities, despite claiming to have notified police. The principal, now a person of interest, has refused DNA testing through his legal representatives from AfriForum, who maintain his innocence.
According to Statistics South Africa – in 2022/23, authorities recorded 19,418 cases of assault against minors, representing nearly half of all crimes committed against children. Rape accounted for 38.3% of all reported crimes involving children during this period.
UNISA’s Acting Vice-Chancellor Professor Solomon Magano accepted the memorandum, praising students’ “courageous leadership” while promising to process demands through normal university channels.
“The university is encouraged by the courageous leadership and attentiveness of its student leadership to social challenges facing not only the students of Unisa but, society as a whole. We appreciate and support this initiative by the NSRC. The Management will study the memorandum and respond officially in the next few days”, Prof Magano said.
