UKZN shuts Maritzburg campus after student protests
The Pietermaritzburg UKZN campus has been closed in the wake of student protests over possible fee increases.
|||Durban - The Pietermaritzburg UKZN campus was closed on Monday and will remain closed on Tuesday in the wake of student protests over possible fee increases.
According to a letter distributed to students and staff on Monday by UKZN Vice-chancellor, Dr Albert van Jaarsveld, university management took the decision to suspend all academic activities on the Pietermaritzburg campus after protest action by students rendered the campus inaccessible to staff and students, and classes were disrupted.
“The university regrets the inconvenience caused and apologises to all staff and students whose commitments have been interrupted by the unfortunate events,” Van Jaarsveld said.
Police and University Risk Management Services and the Public Order Policing Unit are monitoring the situation at the campus.
Van Jaarsveld said the University Council had not deliberated on issues relating to fee increments as it awaited a directive from the Department of Higher Education and Training.
“We will endeavour to ensure the safety and security of all staff and students at all times. We urge all students to adhere to the university rules and applicable protocols in dealing with grievances and matters of concern,” said Van Jaarsveld.
Students marched from the Golf Road campus to the Agriculture campus on Carbis Road on Monday morning, with some students indicating that they had been rudely awakened by protesting students in their residence rooms and threatened to join the protest.
Anton Somerset, a second-year student, said he was pulled out of his calculus lecture by his shirt by a protesting student, and when he resisted he was “clobbered” over the head.
“I could not believe it was happening. When I told my attacker to leave me alone, and I tried to get him off me, he just proceeded to clobber me over the head, calling me a white sell-out.
“I am still so angry about it,” Somerset said.
The Department of Higher Education and Training said on Monday that it expected to reach a decision on the fee increment at universities by the end of August, after consultations with stakeholders.
Department spokesman, Khaya Nkwanyana, told the Daily News on Monday that Minister Blade Nzimande was “pushing” for a consensus by the end of the month.
Nkwanyana said the view held by the Council on Higher Education that a 0% fee increase for 2017 would place close to 20 institutions in financial trouble was fully supported by Nzimande, because those institutions were already in financial “dire straits”.
UKZN student representative council (SRC) leader, Senzo Ngidi, said that for now only their Pietermaritzburg campus had been on strike.
Quizzed on the reasons for their disgruntlement, Ngidi said: “We want free education. The government must declare education free, the payment of the fees will be undertaken by the government. That’s what the main call is.”
Daily News