WSU takes students to court over strike

WALTER Sisulu University will today resort to court on an urgent basis in a bid to stop violent student protests at three of its four campuses.

WSU shut the three campuses down after student protests that have, in the past few weeks, resulted in millions of rands worth of damage to university property and reportedly left staff and some students fearing for their lives.

The university wants an interim interdict prohibiting its general student body at the Butterworth, Buffalo City and Mthatha campuses from damaging, destroying or stealing its property, assaulting or threatening staff and other students, disrupting academic activities or enticing others to act illegally.

WSU registrar Khaya Maphinda says in an affidavit that the students had succeeded in their goal of making the university ungovernable.

He confirms that the three campuses had all been closed and no academic or any other activity was taking place.

Maphinda says that on March 5, without warning, some students embarked on a “strike” and began to force other students and staff to stop all academic activities.

A list of 16 demands was tabled including that the university academic year “start afresh”.

While the university agreed to some demands and referred others to its relevant managers, he said it could not accede to this one.

The protest action had intensified. Students had begun blockading roads in East London and caused extensive damage to administrative offices and vehicles. Security staff were routed, laptops and other devices were stolen and the canteen looted.

Damage to its Potsdam campus was estimated to be at least R2-million.

He said the situation at its East London campus remained volatile.

Protests spilled over to the Butterworth and Mthatha campuses.

However, the stated reasons for the two protests were different, said Maphinda.

In Butterworth students were protesting the possibility of a withdrawal of accreditation of an engineering course and in Mthatha, students and staff were protesting outsourcing of certain services.

The matter is to be argued in court today. The university wants the students to be given until April 17 to show the court why the interim order should not be made final.

The Daily Dispatch checked at each of the three campuses yesterday.

Academic activities remained frozen with students continuing their protest action and class boycotts.

Ibika campus in Butterworth remained closed. In Buffalo City and Mthatha only the staff had returned by yesterday. Students in Mthatha did not return to class, while in Buffalo City they carried on with demonstrations in Southernwood.

Only the Komani campus was unaffected by the protests.