Students withdraw court action

NMMU #FeesMustFall and other student activists, who resorted to the Grahamstown High Court in a bid to force the university to provide them with the means to complete the academic year, have withdrawn their application.

They have also agreed to pay the legal costs incurred by the university.

Judge Murray Lowe had arranged an early sitting of the court this morning to accommodate the urgent matter.

But NMMU’s correspondent attorney in Grahamstown, Owen Huxtable yesterday confirmed the matter had been withdrawn.

The student activists, who participated in protests which shut down the university for a prolonged period, claimed in court papers that the e-learning-based teaching introduced by the university in October disadvantaged students who lacked internet and computer access.

NMMU instituted e-learning as one component of its academic recovery plan in a final bid to complete the academic year, after protests shut the campus down. The group claimed e-learning excluded them and was an immediate and direct threat to their academic well-being.

They had wanted the court to order the institution to come up with alternative learning methods to help them complete the year.

The students’ attorney, Asanda Mgangatho was not available for comment yesterday.