South African student bodies have presented a document showing 10 demands directed at university officials and government amid #FeesMustFall protests at campuses across the country.
The latest developments in the student protests, which have now entered into their third week after reigniting in September, have seen the country’s top two universities shut down until next week.
The University of Cape Town issued a statement on Wednesday saying that the institute could no longer control the situation and keep classes going without security and police intervention, and has opted to rather shut down until the end of the week.
Wits University announced late on Tuesday night that it had reached an agreement with student representatives to resume classes on Monday, 10 October, after a general assembly meeting on Friday where all stakeholder views could be presented.
The South African Students Congress (Sasco) has come with a list of demands for universities and government, criticising the latter for allowing the situation to escalate to where it is now.
According to Sasco, the minister of higher education, Blade Nzimande, has allowed universities to do as they please, while the plight of students has fallen on deaf ears in Treasury, and abuse by the SAPS has been left unchecked by the police ministry.
Sasco has made the following demands:
- The president and deputy president must meet with students and attend to the crisis in less than a week. They must also make amendments to the fee commission’s terms of reference.
- Campuses must be de-militarised by university vice chancellors, and extra security and the added police presence must be removed.
- The fee commission must release a preliminary report immediately.
- Higher education minister Blade Nzimande must pronounce a sector-wide plan for the so-called “missing middle”.
- There must be a debt clearance for the missing middle by National Treasury and the private sector – and universities must commit to no exclusions for the next academic year.
- There must be amnesty for all arrested students and staff.
- A worker and student ombudsman must be established to fight against victimisation.
- The implementation of an institutional transformation charter, with clear timelines.
- All worker issues must be resolved.
- Campuses must be re-opened, and the academic year must resume.
The Sasco demands relate immediately to the Wits protests, though speak to the wider #FeesMustFall movement.
At UCT, students are also demanding that students who were expelled following the 2015 protests be readmitted.
More on protests
Students cause Wits to close again until Monday
Wits vice-chancellor to students: ‘Why are you still protesting?’