Mar 10 2016
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They hurt her so bad – Franziska’s devastated dad

By Sodwana Bay

Cape Town – Two days after she was brutally murdered, Franziska Blöchliger’s heartbroken father described seeing his child’s broken body. “I just got back from the mortuary. You wouldn’t believe what I saw,” Florian Blöchliger told News24 on Wednesday. “They hurt her so bad.” Blöchliger, from Switzerland, said she was beaten so badly, it looked as if her eyes couldn’t open. Franziska, 16, was murdered on Monday afternoon while out for a run with her mother, sister and their family’s dog. Blöchliger pleaded with the media and residents in Cape Town to find those responsible for his daughter’s killing, “because they cannot do this to another child”. Commenting on reports of calls from Franziska’s iPhone to him, Blöchliger said he had heard the sound of a child or baby crying in the background, “as if its toy had been taken from it”. He confirmed that the reward offered to find the perpetrators has been increased to R100 000 from R50 000. Three people between the ages of 22 and 27 were arrested on Tuesday night and will be appearing in the Wynberg Magistrate’s Court on Thursday. Blöchliger said his wife was devastated and was on medication. The family were also receiving counselling through the police. One ray of light for the family has been the support of locals in the Kirstenhof community. Hundreds of people gathered for a silent vigil on Tuesday evening near the spot where the teenager was killed. Bouquets and messages of condolences and support were left for Franziska’s loved ones.

Mar 08 2016
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SRC at TUT digs in its heels

By Sodwana Bay

 Sthembiso Shandu has said Tshwane University of Technology’s management wrong for halting classes and vacating students from residences. On Monday, 7 March university management issued a notice to students that classes on the Shoshanguve campus were off until 6 April 2016. The document also recommended students leave their residences by 14:00 on Tuesday, 8 March 2016 for their own safety. Shandu who is the Deputy Head on the Student Representative Council (SRC), told News24’s Karabo Ngoepe the university was “stupid” to shut down the campus. He said, “So this decision is wrong. It must be reviewed today or tomorrow. It must be reviewed.” He also remarked the tertiary institution was not the Vice Chancellor’s “tuckshop” but a national asset. News24 reporter Ngoepe noticed students leaving the South Campus, wheeling bags of luggage and even a small bar fridge from the morning of Tuesday, 8 March 2016. Taxis standing outside the gate were headed for Tshwane central, Mpumalanga, KwaZulu-Natal, Limpopo and the Easter Cape. “We want lectures to be here,” he said. “We are not going to agree to a sense of saying that classes shall close simply because a white man is failing to meet us, is failing to sit in a table with us.” Ngoepe also reported fences on campus were broken on the South Campus in Shoshanguve. Watch the clip above.