Threats and demands by students at two Durban universities have led to the closure of the University of KwaZulu-Natal and Durban University of Technology campuses this week.
On Monday, 14 February, UKZN postponed all its activities as a result of incidents of violence and intimidation of staff by students.
On Tuesday, 15 February, similar action took place at DUT, when students set alight four cars in the Steve Biko Campus. DUT took the decision to temporarily close three of its Durban campuses.
Senior Director of Corporate Affairs at DUT, Alan Khan, said a group from a political student organisation forced entry at Gate 2 on the Steve Biko Campus in Durban, then divided themselves into two groups and started with their attack.
“The DUT Protection Services personnel tried to apprehend the group, however, the two groups were already in the basement of the S10 building and the S10 basement parking area. The DUT Protection Services personnel helped to extinguish the fire and Durban Metro Police, Berea SAPS and the Public Order Policing were called to the scene. Due to the eruption of violence, intimidation and arson, the University’s management decided to request all staff to evacuate the Steve Biko premises and temporarily close Steve Biko, Ritson and ML Sultan campuses with immediate effect.
“For safety measures of staff and students, physical access to the three campuses is not allowed until further notice. However, online registration and all online activities will continue. Staff were advised to work remotely. DUT would like to reiterate that it is not accepting walk-ins and there is no physical registration taking place on campus,” said Khan.
Khan added that DUT will continue to monitor the situation and will not hesitate to take action against anyone who is found forcefully occupying and invading residences without following due processes.
“Individuals who have invaded and illegally occupied Steve Biko campus and Winterton residence without due process, as prescribed by Student Housing, including residence registration, have been asked to immediately vacate. Only legitimately registered residence students may remain during the temporary closure of the three Durban campuses. DUT condemns this criminal violent behaviour which has been linked to members of the political student organisation. The University also urges staff, students and stakeholders to be aware of false statements and ‘fake news’ that is circulated on some social media platforms. All official University statements will be emailed to staff and students and published on the DUT website,” he said.
Police spokesperson, Lieutenant Colonel Nqobile Gwala, said: “A case of malicious damage to property is being investigated by Berea SAPS.”
Meanwhile, Norma Zondo, Corporate Relations Executive Director at UKZN, said: “Members of staff at some of the campuses were intimidated by students entering the building, demanding that all activities on the campuses be halted. This led to the decision to suspend classes for the remainder of the week. The University views these as acts of criminality and will seek to address them in that manner, particularly as we are receiving reports of stone-throwing, damage to property and physical assaults on innocent staff members. Not only are these acts illegal, they are also disadvantaging all students who are intent on learning at the University.”
She further added that considering the threat that seems to be imminent, University management felt it is prudent to suspend lectures for the rest of this week.
“This means that the University shuttle service will also be suspended. This meeting is part of ongoing efforts by both parties to effectively respond to the needs of our student population and to ensure a conducive learning environment on our campuses. University management appreciates the progressive and peaceful manner in which the SRC has been engaging on these matters and commits to continue working closely with the student body to ensure that the needs of students are met,” she said.
DUT Economic Freedom Fighter (EFF) Student Command Chairperson, Nkululeko Nzobe, said the University has failed to listen to the students as they requested that registration is done manually and not online, this after registration began at the University three weeks ago and was extended to the beginning of this week for students who cannot access the internet to come on campus for manual registrations.
Speaking on the vehicles that were set alight on campus, Nzobe said: “This has to be an inside thing as no case was opened with the police,” he added.
Nduduzo Masango, EFF Student Command Chair at UKZN, said the student body at UKZN shares the same sentiments as the DUT students as their grievances are related to registrations.
“The students submitted a request to University management that classes do not continue until all students have registered. Most of the students who are not registered are those with historical debt. We demanded that the University makes provision of the funds raised by UKZN Foundation to pay registration for post-graduate students who cannot afford registration. The second bone of contention is for the University to register NSFAS-funded students, despite the fact that the list of funded students sent by NSFAS was incomplete due to some delays. The University is aware of the NSFAS procedures,” said Masango.
He said the meeting that was scheduled with University management did take place and according to the Student Representative Council, the meeting was fruitless. “No agreement was reached and it is likely that activities at UKZN will resume on Monday, however, we cannot guarantee what is going to happen if the matters are not resolved,” said Masango.
Hannah Winkler, Democratic Alliance Constituency Head of DASO KZN, said they always subscribe to a principle of non-violence when it comes to protests. “We understand that the students are going to be very frustrated when they feel that their needs are not being addressed or met by the universities, however, destroying infrastructure and disturbing learning is not the way to go about it as it disadvantages the rest of the students,” she said.
Winkler added that she thinks the management will face the same issue every year and have to start adopting a model that anticipates the challenges that students are likely to face.
“I think they have to have a close relationship with the SRCs to ensure that they troubleshoot before registration begins at the beginning of the year as what ends up happening is complete disruption,” she said.
She said with regards to the R4 000 registration fee, students with historical debt are sometimes really unable to afford to pay it and are being academically disenfranchised and not allowed to register for the year. “This is unsustainable, a prolonged action should be adopted by the university that takes that into action,” said Winkler.
Attempts to get comments from the South African Student Congress (SASCO) were made and the calls made to them were not answered at the time of going to press.
