ON SUNDAY, striking Wits University students marched to the house of the university’s vice-chancellor, Zeblon Vilakazi.
The students demonstrated outside Vilakazi’s Parktown home in a bid to put pressure on the university to meet its demands over accommodation issues they have been raising since the start of their protest last Tuesday.
They also demand the university to allow those owing R150 000 or less to register for the 2023 academic year.
The students are protesting against the exclusion of 6 000 students who they say have been unable to register for financial reasons. In a statement, the institution confirmed that more than 200 students marched to the vice-chancellor’s home and threatened to burn it down.
This followed a meeting between the Student Representative Council and Wits management over various issues, during which the SRC allegedly rejected the concessions presented.
The university said it had met the student representatives from the SRC to discuss their demands after the student body rejected certain concessions.
“Following our engagement with the SRC and following further correspondence today (Sunday), the SRC has rejected the concessions presented. Instead, following this mass meeting, about 200 students, led by the SRC, chose to march to the VC’s home, and some threatened to burn it down. We condemn all forms of violence and implore the students, the student leaders, and all other parties to exercise maximum restraint,” said the university management.
However, the SRC said they were still open to further negotiations with management about their demands.
SRC president Aphiwe Mnyamana addressed hundreds of students at the university’s main campus in Braamfontein, Johannesburg, on Sunday night on the outcome of a meeting they held with Wits management over the weekend.
“The university said it will, on a case-by-case basis, allow students owing debt to register for the 2023 academic year. First, students with PCD (proceed with no conditions) and RET (repeat the year) are excluded from the concessions and thus will not be allowed to register despite being academically eligible, and this concession is only being extended for this year only. Our fight as the SRC is to ensure that all demands continue for generations to come in order to prevent the SRC from fighting for the same struggles,” Mnyamana said.
Meanwhile, a meeting is to take place today between students and management has been delayed until late in the afternoon.
Image supplied (Wits students protesting outside campus since last week. They’re at loggerheads with management on accommodation and registration fee).
