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Cele visits horrific crime scene where UniZulu student was stabbed to death

Blood stains are still clearly visible in a bedroom where a University of Zululand (UniZulu) student was stabbed to death on Sunday, allegedly by his roommate.

The roommates, both 20 and both first-year students, allegedly were having an argument over drinking water when one of them grabbed a knife and stabbed the other multiple times.

The suspect, whose name is known to News24, from Esikhaleni, in northern KwaZulu-Natal, allegedly killed Sazi Ngubo from Port Shepstone.

The suspect was then assaulted by angry students who arrived in the bedroom shortly after the stabbing.

A video of the assault has been trending on social media.

He is currently recovering in hospital, where he is under police guard. He faces a charge of murder.

Police said he would appear in court once he was fit to stand trial. He cannot be named until he has appeared.

'What is the use of security when they can't help us?'

Hundreds of students voiced their anger over lack of security to Police Minister Bheki Cele on Tuesday. Cele was visiting the KwaDlangezwa campus, where the incident took place.

Before addressing the students, Cele visited the crime scene after he had earlier been locked in a meeting with the university management and student representative council members.

"A woman security [guard] who arrived first at the scene could not do anything. What is the use of having security guards all over the campus when they can't even help us when we are in trouble?" asked one angry student.

Another student said: "They walk around without any equipment to interfere when there's a fight between students."

"They should be equipped to take care of us," said another student.

SRC deputy president Ndumiso Ntshangase said the stabbing could not have been prevented, but that there should be more security personnel on the campus.

Bread knife used

"There was security present at the gate leading to the residence where the incident happened, but no one anticipated that a roommate could stab his roommate using a bread knife," Ntshangase said.

"Securities were the first ones to arrive at the scene and they also saved the suspect when he was being assaulted. There is security inside the campus, but it's not enough.

"Some students get robbed inside the residence in the campus. But our main concern is when you are out of campus, to the rooms around the campus that students rent. They are being robbed on a daily basis," he said.

WATCH: UniZulu accused in hospital after mob attack over alleged killing

The student population was around 18 000, but there were less than 7 000 beds on the campus, Ntshangase said.

"The majority of the students are housed outside. The university is not doing nothing to protect those students who stay out of university. As from 2013, students are getting stabbed and shot and the university is not doing nothing," said Ntshangase.

Meanwhile, Cele said those who appeared in the video of the assault should be identified and arrested.

"I'm not going to leave you alone on this one. I don't know how if you have seen how bad that video is. I've instructed police to identify everybody in the video," he said.

The students then lost it and shouted: "No!"

He accused the students of taking the law into their own hands.

'This boy had been seen'

Cele said the students should let the police do their job, "because this boy (suspect) had been seen".

He told the media earlier that the law would deal with the students who had participated in the suspect's beating.

The minister said he has engaged with the ministers of higher and basic education and that they had agreed to come together to work on finding a permanent solution to the violence at schools and campuses.

He told students that he wanted the "shebeens" around the campus to comply with the liquor licence laws.

"We will visit them to make sure they comply, because around shebeens there's crimes of rape and murder," he said.

The university management also committed itself to working with Cele's department to find a solution to the student's security concerns.

UniZulu spokesperson Gcina Nhleko-Mdluli told journalists that police investigations would reveal the motive for the stabbing.

"The suspect is recovering in hospital and maybe he would shed some light on what really happened," she said.

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