Durban - Furious fathers of two Durban North Varsity College students are demanding action after their daughters’ lifesaving prescription medication was confiscated during a drug raid on campus.
The students, who suffer from right temporal lobe epilepsy and cystic fibrosis respectively, which can both lead to severe breathing difficulties, were publicly “searched and shamed” by a security company.
It’s alleged that on Wednesday morning Varsity College was placed on lockdown and nobody could enter or leave the premises, when a security company known as Detector Dog arrived with dogs to search the students for drugs.
Pat Nair said his daughter could have a seizure at any time and having her medication on hand was crucial to saving her life. He said when students were asked if they had prescription medication, she said she did but was not given a chance to show authorities her prescription.
He said immediately after a security guard seized his daughter’s medication she started hyperventilating and it could have ended badly.
Nair said the security also searched her in public and seized her phone before deleting all the footage she had taken of the incident.
He said they were then detained in a place known as the university’s “holding room” for almost two hours.
When he arrived at campus, Nair said he wanted to speak to the principal, Rajesh Chandarman, but was sent from pillar to post. He found him standing outside on the campus, but Nair said Chandarman claimed to be busy and refused to look or talk to him.
Nair said they would definitely pursue civil and legal charges against Varsity College.
Lion Match executive chairperson Gora Abdoola, the father of the second student, said the university knew that his daughter had been hospitalised in Johannesburg for almost three weeks because of her medical condition and did not understand why they allowed this to happen when they were aware of her illness.
He said the institution’s policy stated that they would have raids but they would be under police supervision.
In addition, even though his daughter showed the security guards her prescription medication, they still mistreated her, searched her bag in public and took her tablets. Later, they returned to the classroom and bundled her together with students who had recreational drugs.
“They really harassed them, this is totally unacceptable,” said Abdoola yesterday. “They broke the privacy laws and It seems as if they broke every law in the country.”
Abdoola said he would write a letter to the institution and demand an apology and an explanation. He has not written off the possibility of pursuing the matter legally.
The Independent on Saturday spoke to Chandarman, who said the raid was “a routine thing that we do every year”.
He said it was only during the Covid-19 pandemic that the raids were not scheduled.
“We have it just to keep everyone safe and to raise awareness. It’s like having a fire drill, it’s our routine safety inspection… the way we do it and the contents and the findings are private.”
Chandarman said they had addressed the complaints of parents and anyone who had further questions could make an appointment to see him next week.
“The important thing is there are a lot of people who don’t know the rules and regulations, for example, weed ‒ the entire society thinks you can smoke weed like cigarettes.
“If anyone carries a large amount of prescription medicines with them they can be charged by the police; you can be seen as a dealer,” he said.
Chandarman said everyone who had prescription medicine with them at campus had to carry a prescription or a doctor’s note with them.
When asked if this was made clear to the students or if it was in the institution’s rules, he said “the whole society should know that” they need a prescription.
He refused to discuss the issue of the drug raid or how it was carried out because it was an internal matter.
“I’m not prepared to discuss anything further,” he said.
Varsity College’s regulations state that: “Random search and seizure and drug testing could be viewed as an invasion of privacy that may infringe personal and constitutional rights of students if not conducted in accordance with law.”
It states that as per the Bill of Rights, human dignity, freedom and security of the person and privacy were relevant when it came to random search and seizures and drug testing at the university.
Calls to the Private Security Industry Regulatory Authority (PSIRA) and searches on its website revealed that the security company used was allegedly registered as Detectadog PTY LTD and traded as Detector Dog, but was “inactive” on the system.
PSIRA’s KwaZulu-Natal manager Queen Ncamisile Mhlongo said she could not comment on the specifics of that company to the media, because there were more than 2 000 security companies in the province, but would assist a victim of the security or the police during an investigation.
However, Mhlongo said: “Nobody can provide any security services without being registered with PSIRA. You also need a special permit to have dogs.”
Mhlongo said the victims of the incident could approach them directly to lay a complaint and they would investigate the matter.
Violence and security monitor Mary de Haas said that Varsity College parents sent their children to Varsity College thinking it would be safer than at other institutions and they had to be held accountable.
She said the security company was out of line and should be investigated.
“They abused their powers.You can’t take prescription drugs from students. You can’t do a search and seizure without the police. Even the police need a warrant to do that,” said De Haas. She said Varsity College should be held to account for their actions.
The Independent on Saturday