Pregnant students chased away from University of Zululand student residence

South Africa

Pregnant students are being chased away from the University of Zululand when approaching their final trimester.

This revelation was made by Commission for Gender Equality (CGE) legal adviser Mlondozi Vava on Thursday. It was based on preliminary observations conducted at UniZulu by the commission, which is currently holding a hearing into gender policy at tertiary institutions.

“The SRC of UniZulu advised the CGE that when a student falls pregnant while still residing at the university residence, the university expels the student from the residence when they are approaching their last trimester of the pregnancy,” he told a delegation.

However, vice-chancellor Xoliswa Mtose expressed shock at the allegation.

“We don’t have such a policy. There is nothing like that,” she said.

“Even the council itself has accused me of changing the university into a hospital, but I told them it’s because of where we are. Students don’t have medical aid at UniZulu, so they depend on us to assist them.”

Mtose, however, did not entirely dismiss the claim.

“I need to go back and investigate and interrogate,” she said.

“If it’s true or there are people who have been discriminated against like that, we need to know and correct that,” she told TimesLIVE after the hearings.

Mtose, who became vice-chancellor in 2014, said the institution was working to address a number of issues.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *