By Noluthando Dlamini and Nomzamo Mntungwa
Mental health practitioner, Dr Winnie Ngcobo, says the state of mind of the victim of the recent Durban University of Technology (DUT) stabbing needs to be prioritised.
Drama & Production student, Sindiswa Ngcobo, was severely injured during alleged attack by a fellow student in the university’s Berea Residence in what has been described as an event that took place during a live Facebook stream.
“The one who was attacked might end up with post traumatic stress disorder and might end up with anxiety disorders that are related to that. Her mental well being needs to be assessed,” says Dr Ngcobo who is also a senior lecturer at the University of KwaZulu-Natal.
Sindiswa Ngcobo, who isn’t related to Dr Winnie Ngcobo, is recovering from severe head wounds. She says there had been grievances that the fellow residence mate was staying with her child who would play loud music at res. Ngcobo accuses her of running rampage with a knife on the day of the incident and says she’d attempted to enter other students’ rooms, but they were locked.
“I was accused by Lungile of stealing the ice cream she sells from her room. She said I was bullying her. Fortunately, Lungile started in other rooms that were shut, but my door was open and I was live on Facebook. She used a stick to attack and beat me,” says Ngcobo.
She says the police were called by other students but weren’t allowed to enter the residence.
“When the cops arrived, someone sent them back. Justice must be done,” she elaborates.
In a live TikTok video, a student by the name of Lungile Dlamini admitted to the incident and used the platform to apologise.
In her apology, she mentioned that she has been a victim of separate bullying incidents by other students. “I always get bullied and judged by my classmates. They are not impartial. I meant no harm to Sindiswa,” said Dlamini in the live streamed TikTok video.
“I lost my temper because I was tired of being bullied by them,” she further explained.
Other students in the residence say they now fear Dlamini.
“I’m still traumatized by what happened with Sindiswa. My room is always locked and, as students of this residence, we are so afraid of walking through the corridors at night because of the fear of bumping into her. I find it frustrating that the matter was not given much attention, and we believe Lungile is being protected by our residence advisor,” says fellow student, Sthandiwe Mazibuko.
Ngcobo says she has opened a case with the police and Berea police have confirmed that they are dealing with a case of assault with intent to cause grievous bodily harm.
