Protest-plagued universities are racing against time to get lectures in full swing as final examinations loom amid stubborn demands by students for free education.
The ‘FeesMustFall’ protest campaign that has been ongoing for weeks, has so far resulted in the destruction of property, running battles between police and students and the arrest of protesters.
Undeterred, protesting students who have abandoned lecturers have vowed to fight on until free higher education is implemented by government.
The Tshwane University of Technology said lectures would continue on Monday despite disruptions that spilled over into the city’s streets last week. Several of its students were arrested during the protest.
“The University is resolute to continue with its revised academic programme. If this academic year is lost it will not only have an extremely adverse effect on the academic futures of the nearly 60,000 students who currently study at the University, but also on new students who want to start their studies at TUT next year, as well as on the economy and our country,” said spokeswoman Willa de Ruyter.
“The impact will be devastating should this academic year not be completed successfully.”
Strict measures would remain in place everyday at TUT campuses. Staff and students would only be able to access campuses with their TUT identification cards, she said.
Meanwhile, a TUT student who was shot on the leg with live ammunition by a security guard on Friday was discharged from hospital on Sunday.
Police said the guard was arrested and charged with attempted murder. De Ruyter warned that those who do not abide by the law would be disciplined.
“The university deeply regrets and condemns the shooting incident where a student was injured by a security guard at the Pretoria campus yesterday.
“The university will provide counselling support to the student. While the University respects the right of students to protest, any TUT student disrupting the operations of the university will be dealt with according to the disciplinary code, while cases will be opened against those participating in criminal activities.”
The Witwatersrand University implemented strict security measures and a curfew and added it suffered “great losses” as a result of vandalism on campus.
Wits vice-chancellor Adam Habib said his institution would ensure that lectures continued to salvage what remained of the 2016 academic year while the university continues to assist in resolving the impasse on higher education funding.
Students reported harassment and being shot at by police with rubber bullets at their residences. They defied the curfew on Sunday night and gathered outside residences to protest the new security measures.
One of the ‘FessMustFall’ leaders, former SRC president Mcebo Dlamini was expected to appear in the Hillbrow Magistrate’s Court on Monday. The firebrand protest leader was arrested on Sunday for allegedly assaulting a police officer.
Wits student leaders said they were being targeted by the university and the police and were not feeling safe – both authorities have denied the claim.
In the Western Cape, the University of Cape Town’s vice-chancellor Max Price said with examinations set to commence on November 7, the institution would be open on Monday.
“Council mandated the executive to continue engagements with protesters. The intention is to find a solution that will allow classroom-based activities to be reinstated and to minimise the need for extensive security. I call on all students and staff to support the plan to resume academic activities,” Price said in a statement.
Government over the weekend called on students to cease with violent protests and urged them to respect the law. The upsurge of violence and destruction of property associated with student protests were criminal and unwarranted, government said.
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