‘LISTEN TO THE POOR STUDENTS’
WITS vice-chancellor Adam Habib last night pleaded with students who still plan to protest on Monday to listen to the poor black students they say they represent.
“These poor black students are saying that they understand the fight but they are not prepared to sacrifice the 2016 academic year.
“The majority of students at Wits are black. The argument of white privilege and that it’s the white students who want to get back to their studies just doesn’t fly any more.”
Habib says his message to the concerned parents who want to see their children finish their studies this year is that he understands their pain and anxiety, but his main focus has always been to keep his students safe.
He says although he did not personally have security around him, he found it outrageous that students decided to march to his home this week.
“That was a direct threat to my family. It went against everything that is decent. Even at the height of apartheid, we knew what our fight was and we knew what our boundaries were.”
Earlier, the majority of students and staff at Wits wanted lectures to resume next week despite violent protests against tuition fee hikes, according to a poll released by the institution.
The students and staff were asked: “Should Wits open on Monday, October 3, subject to appropriate security protocols being in place?”
Yesterday, 77 percent of students indicated they wanted to return to class on Monday, while 23 percent voted against this.
The process was conducted by an auditing company after the Electoral Commission of SA (IEC) could not assist the university.
Students were sent a text and asked to respond with either a “yes” or a “no” while staff received instructions on how to log in and vote.
An urgent court bid by Wits student leaders on Wednesday to halt the poll failed. The court ruled against the students and indicated that everyone’s voices needed to be heard.
University campuses have been rocked by protests since last year as students continue to demand free higher education. An announcement by Higher Education Minister Blade Nzimande that fee increases for 2017 would be capped at 8 percent brought another wave of protests as students demanded no fee increases until free higher education was implemented.
Lectures have been suspended at most universities as the unrest continued.
Meanwhile, the government has noted what it describes as a third force trying to destabilise universities. State Security Minister David Mahlobo said there had been attempts to hijack student protests as well as to delegitimise the work done by state security agencies.
Mahlobo said intelligence agencies were well aware of activities during these protests and knew who the agitators were.
Police Minister Nathi Nhleko urged communities and parents to work with the government to prevent students engaging in acts of criminality.