Students demand assembly to address issues

ALTHOUGH all academic activities continued at the Cape Peninsula University of Technology (CPUT) yesterday, about 80 students held a meeting a few metres away from the Cape Town campus demanding a student assembly to address the issues plaguing the institution.

An elected student representative, Neo Mongale, said the acting vice-chancellor, Dr Chris Nhlapo, had a meeting yesterday with one of the students, Ayakha Magxothwa, to finalise a date for a student assembly.

Although the students were not allowed to hold a mass meeting for a press briefing on the premises, they held a meeting at the MyCiTi bus stop, a few metres away from the open entrance, in the presence of private security guards and police.

At this meeting Mongale said they had met CPUT management at the weekend. They were told to choose five members, including workers, to attend a boardroom meeting that would discuss the way forward.

Students are fighting against financial exclusion and the “militarisation” of campuses, and demanding insourced worker contracts.

Meanwhile, Mongale said several CPUT students from the Cape Town campus did not come to the premises for fear of violence.

“We cannot write or carry on academic activities with such trauma,” he said. “We do not want to have five representatives at a boardroom meeting drinking expensive coffee. The (acting) vice-chancellor (Nhlapo) should suspend all academic activities until a sitting assembly with the students to formally deal with the situation at our campuses. The proposed date is for Friday, and then next week Monday we can continue writing tests and exams,” said Mongale.

CPUT issued a statement saying that it had reopened successfully yesterday, and apart from a few minor incidents, classes were able to continue uninterrupted thanks to a strong SAPS and private security presence across campuses.

CPUT spokesperson Lauren Kansley said: “We are encouraged by the fact that the majority of staff and students did report for work and class today (yesterday). Private security will bolster our own campus protection service efforts for as long as necessary.”