Protesters in the Cape force others out of lectures
CAPE Peninsula University of Technology (CPUT) students staged a sit-in at the Cape Town campus as part of a protest to ensure that a proposed 10 percent fee increase does not happen.
Students were also opposed to students and workers who took part in the protest being victimised, saying they would stay at the institution until the acting vice-chancellor, Mikhail Mabuza, came out to meet them.
One of the nearly 300 students, Keke Maki, said they would stop all academic and administrative processes at the institution until they were afforded a meeting with management.
“Now council must come to us, along with the vicechancellor, he must make himself available.”
Maki said he realised that their actions were unfair to other students, but in the long run, every student would benefit.
“We are saying education cannot be commodified. Finances are used to kick away the black child. The institution has been intimidated by the influx of black students and they keep bringing increases to keep them away.”
National Education Health and Allied Workers Union secretary at CPUT Xolani Mdoda pledged solidarity with the students and called for all workers at the university to do the same.
“The workers can’t observe from the sidelines, because the issue of fees also speaks to the pocket of the parents, and the increase will have an workers.”
He added that they were not at war with the CPUT staff and management, but just didn’t want to see an increase in fees.
“The issue of R7 000 upfront for registration is not on. This is something that management and students need to sit down about and discuss.”
Before the sit-in, the students went into classes and forced other students to leave their lectures. They also locked some of the staff members into the building and refused to let them leave.
The pleas of one staffer who tried to drive away from the institution around 4pm fell on deaf ears.
Despite negotiating with the students and saying she needed to be home to take care of her child, the protesters would not budge and refused to remove the concrete blocks that blockaded the road.
CPUT spokeswoman Lauren Kansley said there were isolated incidents of vandalism reported yesterday.
“Essentially, the acting vice-chancellor came to a number of agreements with the students and leadership, and those include classes being suspended and staff will not respond to work today, except for management.”
She said the reason for suspending classes was to allow students to take part in the national protest against fees.
“Students will be allowed to make up for the class time they have missed,” Kansley added.
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