UCT students resume fees protest, despite court ruling

Read More

Students at the Universityof Cape Town (UCT) reignited their protest on Thursday night in response to the institution’s decision not to remove fee blocks for students with debt.

The student representative council (SRC) said on its Twitter page: “Police have used stun grenades, force and have made arrests on middle campus.”

Fee blocks are a mechanism through which students in arrears with their payments are blocked from accessing their exam results from the previous year and from re-registering in the new year.

The Economic Freedom Fighters Student Command (EFFSC) condemned the university’s decision to call the police to the campus. It said four students had been arrested.

“This is after students have continued to peacefully protest after the university council rejected the proposal to lift fee blocks and subsequently aid the financial exclusion of 7 535 students who are academically eligible,” it said in a statement. 

The university described the protest as “unlawful”, because an interim interdict is in place, which the Western Cape high court granted on 17 February. 

UCT spokesperson Elijah Moholola reiterated the university’s stance on upholding the right to legitimate protest but said they would act against any unlawful activities.

The SRC has suggested that the fee blocks be lifted as a general concession but, at a council meeting on Monday, UCT decided not to remove the blocks. 

According to the university, student fee debt has increased to more than R385 million, with some students having not made any payments. More than 50% of this sum is for fees owed for the 2022 academic year.

“The UCT executive has worked hard to maximise eligibility for registration of academically eligible students. Since December 2022, UCT has put in place a number of measures that have enabled approximately 4 000 additional students who started out with fee blocks to register for the 2023 academic year,” said Moholola

Moholola added that tuition fees are the biggest source of income for UCT, followed by government subsidies, which have been declining in recent years. If the debt is not converted into cash, he said, the university’s financial sustainability would be affected.

This comes after the University of the Witwatersrand SRC said on Wednesday it was willing to pause a protest over fees and accommodation, on condition that the institution removed private security guards and police officers from the campus and lifted the suspension of six students, including its president. 

With SRC president Aphiwe Mnyamana suspended, his deputy Kamogelo Mabe told journalists the council would only meet the university’s management to negotiate when its demands were met. 

This was after authorities at the university demanded that students stop the protest to pave the way for a meeting with the vice-chancellor. 

Mnyamana was suspended on Monday on allegations of serious misconduct and failing to appear at a suspension hearing. 

Students at Wits are protesting over the exclusion of those who could not register for the new academic year because they owe the university money or cannot secure accommodation at residences because they cannot afford the deposit.