Protests continue, but some students push to go to class

AS hundreds of UCT staff and students gathered in a peaceful silent protest to push for classes to resume on Monday, there were several arrests at the Westville campus of the University of KwaZulu-Natal where rubber bullets were fired in renewed violence.

There were mixed messages from Cape Peninsula University of Technology (CPUT) students at the District Six campus, who said that, while they wanted to avoid violence, their response would “depend on management”.

On Wednesday, Vice-Chancellor Dr Max Price called for lectures to resume next week.

Yesterday students and staffers on the steps of Jameson Hall held aloft placards bearing messages including “Keep the doors of learning OPEN” and “More graduates = less poverty”.

“There is a side of the protest concerned with free education,” said Fillip Stoliarov, a fourth-year UCT student. “But there is also a side of the protest where students need to finish their degree in order to build a living.”

Sipho Pityana, chairman of the UCT Council, urged students not to sacrifice their academic careers.

“Unlike in the past, no one should risk not completing their education in order to be heard, or realise a just and noble cause. The institutions of higher learning are our institutions, they are our inheritance, they are our assets. They are ours – we should protect them and defend them.”

#FeesMustFall supporters interjected during the silent protest, saying they would not condone the reopening until their demands were met.

While Pityana approved of management’s decision to suspend academic activities for two weeks, he said it was not a sustainable solution, and called for the co-operation of all parties.

“I am painfully aware that there are many unresolved issues that divide us. They should not be pushed under the carpet. We must continue with the dialogue. But to succeed, we need co-operation on the part of all involved.

In Kwazulu-Natal, police and students clashed at the Westville campus of the University of KwaZulu-Natal. That led to between four and six arrests, including one reporter.

Students fled rubber bullets, both at the campus quadrangle and outside a residence.

News24 reporter Kaveel Singh was released after police told him he was trespassing.

Among those arrested was third-year accounting student Phindile Dimani, who carried a placard reading “Would you shoot your children?”

“She was sitting down when she was arrested,” said her friend, Mbali Mthembu.

UKZN spokesperson Lesiba Seshoka said last night that while lectures continued as normal on the Howard College, Edgewood, Pieter maritzburg and Medical School campuses yesterday, sporadic protest action continued through the day at the Westville Campus.

“Some lectures were disrupted and three scheduled tests were cancelled. A number of the students engaging in illegal acts of violence have been apprehended by RMS (University Risk Management Services) and SAPS,” said Seshoka.

By yesterday evening SAPS, Public Order Policing and RMS had dispersed the protestors, but remained to monitor the campus.