Wits PhD student found dead in his room at West Student Village Residence.

Three days later and the stench had not passed. The air tasted like stale sour milk which had been baked in an oven. Wits personnel in masks looked like surgeons as they cleared the room. A laptop, cellphone and a spectacles case lay bound in a see- through bag. These belonged to him no more.

Garika Roderick Ngoro’s (48) body was found on January 29 in his room on West Campus in the Student Village. He was a Media Studies PhD student grappling with his final thesis. A former man of politics, Ngoro worked for ex-Cape Town mayor Helen Zille. Described as a sharp mind, he was known to be outspoken, except in death.

Friend and neighbour Denford Muusha said Ngoro was also known as “Blackman”. He said they spent many evenings together at the Post Graduate Club (Pig) and that after a few beers Blackman would open up and that “you could see that this guy was not alright”.

“He was drinking, not eating. He kept talking about relationship problems. He had outstanding fees and wasn’t sure if he was going to get res.”  
Muusha said that when he tried to talk to Blackman about his problems, he became angry.

“He wasn’t feeling well and by his general skin condition, you could tell this guy was sick.”
Neighbours and friends said they had not seen Blackman for a few days. On Friday January 29, one of the building’s cleaners tried to open room H9, but couldn’t as the door was locked from the inside with a key. Campus Control was called in to break the door open. Blackman’s body was found lying on his bed.

Police have labelled the death “natural causes”, but a post-mortem is still being conducted. 
Dean of Humanities Professor Tawana Kupe was supervising Blackman’s PhD thesis. He said the last time he saw Blackman was on January 20 when they discussed his proposal for a thesis. Kupe said he did not see any unusual behaviour.
“His motivation never wavered,” he said.

The Pig has asked for donations so that Blackman’s body can be sent back to Zimbabwe, the country where he was born. A memorial service will be held on Monday February 8 at 5:00pm at the Pig.