Transformation Office gender-based violence counsellor Ulleta Marais is the student point of contact at Nelson Mandela University
AiA, which started at the University of Cape Town in 2021 and expanded to Nelson Mandela University in 2023, is bearing fruit with beneficiaries speaking about its positive influence on their lives.
Avusiwe Tyamzashe was one of the students who spoke out about the impact of the programme, offered through the Transformation Office at Nelson Mandela University in Gqeberha.
“My case was not only handled with the utmost professionalism but went above and beyond to ensure that I received the help I needed,” Tyamzashe said of her personal experience with AiA.
“I am grateful for the AiA psychologist, who made a tremendous difference. What truly stood out was the daily check-ins and continuous support, even after the formal resolution of my case.
“The care and dedication have been a source of strength, and I cannot thank you enough for the ongoing concern you continue to show. Thank you for being there every step of the way.”
Another survivor of GBV, student Yolanda Jenkins, also sought help from the Transformation Office, which connected her to AiA.
“The AiA sessions helped me a lot, I started off very anxious, I couldn’t even think about what I was going through at the time,” said Jenkins. “The psychologist assured me that I would be okay and with time everything would be alright.
“As difficult as it was at the time, I didn’t skip any session and I could feel myself getting better after every session. I received help when I needed it the most. Looking back I don’t think I would have coped alone. Right now I am able to deal with stress and anxiety when it comes. It’s not a bad thing to seek help.”
The founder and initial funder of AiA, Zellah Fuphe, launched it after a female student at the University of Cape Town was murdered in 2019. She and co-founder Sanda Nyoka knew the negative impact that trauma, and GBV in particular, had on academic success.
Fuphe and Nyoka co-created a victim-centred, survivor-focused approach to help ease the risk of persistent trauma for survivors of GBV at tertiary institutions.
Transformation Office GBV counsellor Ulleta Marais is the student point of contact at Nelson Mandela University in Gqeberha and, after an initial screening, will connect students to one of several psychologists who have signed up for the project.
“The programme is working, it is doing very well,” said Marais. “They [the student beneficiaries] really appreciate the sessions they have with the psychologists.”
Nelson Mandela University takes a zero-tolerance stance on the ongoing scourge of GBV, and its Vice-Chancellor, Professor Sibongile Muthwa, chaired the Ministerial Task Team (MTT) which compiled the report on matters of sexual harassment and gender-based violence and harm in South African universities.
Gazetted earlier in 2024, the MTT report makes several recommendations on how to tackle GBV on campuses. One recommendation was that all complaints mechanisms are integrated with psycho-social and other support to complainants, such as with AiA.
The MTT also recommended that the central coordination point – which at Mandela University is the Transformation Office – establish systems of referral to campus health and wellness structures. With inadequate funding hobbling attempts by universities to fully address GBV, the AiA initiative provides an additional layer of support. Fuphe is hoping that more donors will come forward.
“Having launched AiA in 2021 at UCT, we are pleased to be partnering with Mandela University to provide much needed psycho-social support to student survivors of GBV,” she said. “GBV does not only impact individuals, it also impacts families and communities, sometimes with adverse intergenerational consequences.
“This is why we hope to attract more donors and partners: so that the AiA service can be available to more survivors, not just at Mandela University but also at other institutions of higher learning.”
All donations go directly to the University, and every rand goes towards its intended purpose of providing mental health support to survivors.
Nelson Mandela University students come from all nine provinces and it also has international students hence Marais would like to add more therapists to the AiA team.
“We not only need Xhosa, English and Afrikaans-speaking psychologists but also other African languages,” says Marais, as the ideal is to match students with a therapist who speaks the same language. “We are constantly actively recruiting people, and we would like to get students from the university who have done counselling or clinical psychology.”
Counselling takes place face to face, and online, and is free for the students. When the AiA cannot match a counsellor who is an alumnus with a student survivor, it spreads the net wider and this is where donations assist in covering costs.
For further information on the AiA programme, click here. If you would like to assist, click here.