Wits students disrupt lectures
WITS University classes were disrupted for most of yesterday when students demanding accommodation invaded the Solomon Mahlangu Building and forced those not taking part in a march out of classes.
Angry students chanting “one bed, one student” also attempted to halt business when they marched to the administration block but were stopped by security.
The protest follows hot on the heels of videos circulating on social media of desperate students sleeping in the library, laboratories and toilets.
Wits SRC and students forced their way into the Solomon Mahlangu Building demanding that management allocates beds and accommodation to the 300 students that were part of the march.
Students also went around campus and disrupted lectures.
SRC president Thuto Gabaphete said: “The number of black students sleeping in the laboratories is disgusting and our moral conscious does not allow us to turn a blind eye. We have identified about 200 students that are still not accommodated.
“We have engaged both the university and the government to say these are the number of students languishing in these inhumane environments. They have not heeded our call that is why we decided to go in and around the city to conscientise the masses about this issue.”
One of the protesters painted a picture of the “inhumane” conditions that they faced daily and the difficulty in getting funding.
“I am part of the students with no accommodation. I am doing my second degree with the institution and I have no funding. I have appealed to NSFAS (National Students Financial Aid Scheme) and I am awaiting their response.
“There is accommodation in the residents but they want us to get funding first before they can allocate the beds to us. We have asked the provincial government to open Wits Waters to accommodate us as in 2017, but we have not received a response.
“This is very straining as it is test week and we are expected to pass like the other students despite us sleeping at the library and bathing in toilets,” the student said.
Vice-chancellor and principal of Sol Plaatje University, Prof Andrew Crouch, came to address the students in the hope of calming the situation.
Crouch said: “There are 50 beds available at the emergency accommodation and they will be allocated to the most vulnerable according to the list we have. The university will be allocating accommodation as it becomes available. We have no money to throw around or rather no money to allocate upon request.”
Protesting students demanded Crouch to go with them to all the residents which he claimed had no space.
Students argued that there is space and 50 beds won’t cut it because the remaining 75% will be left out in the cold. They furthermore demanded that all tests or exams that took place today be declared null and void.
“The fact that these students are registered means the university must not deprive them of anything. The university readmitted them based on merit. Wits and Braamfontein were not created to cater for black students. The unreasonable rates of accommodation and private accommodation attest to that. Wits itself is one of the most expensive institutions and caters for the very rich. There is a huge gap and it needs to be addressed,” Gabaphete said.
In the crowd, there were a few students that marched in solidarity and demanded a lasting solution to class disruptions.
Amitai Meyerowitz, an Actuarial Science student said: “There is a big problem here in Wits and I think the solution would be to take a large portion of the money in the institution and use it towards necessities and cut off superfluous things. I stand in solidarity with the students marching. I have accommodation and the pressure is a lot without facing such issues. I can only imagine how the students feel, however I do not agree with the methods taken during the protest. I saw them going in classes and getting students out. I think they must allow students who are here to study to do so, they should not have to suffer because of management.”
Meyerowitz further said: “When I joined the protest and was taking videos, I was pushed around and slapped around the head by some of the protesters demanding I delete the videos. It’s fine to have a protest but violence can’t solve anything.”