This shot at Motsoaledi by Professor Jonathan Moyo comes after a Zimbabwean PhD student committed suicide after his study permit was not renewed. This week PhD student Philip Chuma took his own life after he could not register for the 2022 academic year at the University of the Witwatersrand. The Zimbabwean national was in the country on a study permit that expired at the end of November that he was trying to renew.

In November last year Cabinet took the decision to not renew Zimbabwean Exemption Permits leaving over 180 000 Zimbabweans, such as students or those in the country for work, in the lurch. Moyo says the PhD student’s fate is tragic and had all the “evil trappings” of the anti-Zimbabwean Afrophobia that Motsoaledi is accused of attempting to enforce.

The Department of Home Affairs required a Letter of Good Cause that was submitted by Chuma for processing. The student had been cooperating with the government entity, however, his efforts were in vain. This allegedly left Chuma distressed as he languished for months without a permit to pursue his life’s work. Wits could not register him as a student due to his lack of the required paperwork. According to university representatives, he had been in constant contact with his academic supervisors regarding the matter. The PhD student had a research interest in the Transition of Newly Qualified Teachers into the teaching profession.

*For those suffering from depression or are in need of assistance, please call the South African Depression and Anxiety Group on 0800 567 567 or 0800 456 789