On the 3rd of August 2018, the Rhodes University community lost a student body member, who was a very active SRC alumni, she tragically took her own life due to gender based violence.
The loss of Khensani’s life had an impact on many members of the student body, it caused emotional unrest on campus, the SRC swiftly called an emergency student body meeting which took place on Sunday at 10PM, in order to discuss a way forward.
The SRC, with the guidance of the student body, then decided that it was very important for students to have an academic shut down. This then took place on the 6th of August 2018. Student were then asked to meet at Purple Square and march together to the admin building to have management address them.
Students then requested the SRC for another shut down the following day, where the student will march to monument where Khensani Maseko would have ended up if she was still alive and had the chance to finish her degree. After the mourning of Khensani Maseko, students were then requested to come to Barrat 2 after lunch to talk about gender based violence and the changes they would like to see.