UCT seeks interdict for sit-in students

THE UCT has served students occupying a room in the Bremner building with a notice of its intention to seek an interdict to prevent them from further occupying the administration offices.

The application would be made in the Western Cape High Court today.

Six students were identified as respondents, including Masixole Mlandu, Lindsay Maasdorp and Sinawo Thambo.

The seventh respondent was the rest of those students occupying the Mafeje Room at Bremner. The application seeks to stop the students from occupying Bremner and order them not to return to the premises unless attending “university business that requires their attendance”.

The interdict also seeks to order the respondents to return all keys or access cards that they may have and to desist from any actions “that obstructs or frustrates the rendering of university services or decision making processes of the university”.

Thambo, listed as the second respondent, said: “It’s typical that the university would do this. This is a tactic to intimidate us, it is nothing new.”

Seipati Tshabalala, 22, International Relations and Philosophy student, who was excluded due to the inability to finance her tuition, said she was concerned with the amount of work she was losing out on.

“We are going into what we call ‘hell week’ where tests are written, it is week four, crunch time.”

Students started occupying the room in the administration offices last Wednesday after a meeting with management where exclusion of students was discussed.

“We are disappointed with UCT. Everything is done in bad faith. We sit with them and talk, we make agreements and the university goes behind our backs. It is disheartening,” Tshabalala added.

A statement issued by the university at the weekend said progress had been made as part of the Rapid Response Task Team on the issues raised on exclusions.

“Some of these demands, especially the demand that no black student should be excluded academically or economically, go far beyond the agreement between the executive and the student representatives. This demand cannot be met by the UCT Executive.” – zodidi.dano@inl.co.za

PICTURE: ROSS JANSEN PROTEST: Seipati Tshabalala is one of the UCT students, who has been occupying Bremner building, and claims management is not doing enough to solve the issue of financial and academic exclusions.