By Lehlohonolo Lehana.

The Minister of Higher Education, Science, and Innovation, Dr Blade Nzimande, has welcomed the arrest of a male student for stabbing a CPUT student at a private residence in Belhar, Cape Town.

The 26-year-old woman was a student at the Cape Peninsula University of Technology (CPUT), while her attacker, aged 30, is a University of Western Cape (UWC) student.

According to UWC, the suspect and the CPUT student are married.

32-year-old Ntembeko Myalo made a brief appearance at Bellville Magistrates' Court, Cape Town. He faces an attempted murder charge.

Nzimande welcomed the swift response of law enforcement agencies in arresting the perpetrator, who according to the video footage in circulation, was merciless and barbaric in committing the crime against his partner.  

He noted that gender-based violence (GBV) is a global pandemic that affected one in three women in their lifetime.

"As many as 38% of murders of women are committed by an intimate partner, 35% of women worldwide experienced physical and sexual intimate partner violence or non-partner sexual violence," Nzimande said.

As part of dealing with gender-based violence in institutions, the Minister launched the Transforming MENtalities initiative, which is a multi-stakeholder partnership within Post School Education and Training (PSET) with a particular focus on mobilising men to be part of championing a world free of gender biases, stereotypes, violence and discrimination.

Nzimande urged all institutions working with Higher Health, which oversees wellness at higher education institutions, to continue working collectively in implementing programmes towards addressing the challenges of sexual and gender-based violence within the PSET system. 

The minister wished the victim a speedy recovery in hospital, meanwhile Myalo will return to court on November 20th. He also has a pending rape case.

Meanwhile, the Democratic Alliance (DA) said it would visit CPUT on Tuesday to meet with university management.

"Heightened security measures on campuses and residences must be prioritised. Our thoughts are with the victim and the wider student community.

"The DA calls on authorities to conduct a thorough investigation into this incident and take decisive action against the perpetrator," it said.