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- The Rector of Wits University, Professor Zeblon Vilakazi, has said that student funding is a national crisis.
- He called for “a cool head” and dialogue after student protests in Johannesburg on Wednesday.
- A “passerby” was shot and killed during the protest, allegedly by the police.
The rector of Wits University, Professor Zeblon Vilakazi, called for “a cool head” after Wednesday’s student protests, in which a man was shot and killed.
Mthokozisi Ntumba, 35, who had been visiting a clinic in Braamfontein at the time of the protest, died after allegedly shot by police.
EXPLANATOR | What we know about the shooting of a man during a protest by Wits students
In a digital briefing on Thursday, Vilakazi said he was disheartened by escalating protests over student funding, adding that the funding crisis was a national problem.
“I am disheartened by the level of escalation that resulted in the sad loss of a passerby … It is time to tear down the rhetoric and not allow the protests to continue to escalate. I call on the university community and South Africa to come together to let a cool head prevail. “
Vilakazi added that the university would enter into discussions with the Student Representative Body to find a solution to the financing crisis in the sector, but added that the financing crisis is a national and even global phenomenon.
“The issue of student funding is a national, system-wide problem, which Wits cannot solve alone. The state and other social actors have a critical role to play in solving this crisis. We need an urgent national debate on this crisis and our students We need definitive long-term solutions to finance higher education, “said Vilakazi.
READ | Witness shot: IPID confirms man shot during protests was Mthokozisi Ntumba, father of two
Student debt
Vilakazi added that student debt at the university was around 1 billion rand, almost double what it was in 2017.
He said that around 6,000 to 8,000 students owed Wits money over the past seven years, including some who had dropped out and others who had been excluded academically for failing multiple times and lost their scholarships as a result.
The university made available to students an additional 10 million rand in a Vice Chancellor’s Covid-19 Student Aid Fund, intended to help those whose parents had lost their jobs due to Covid-19.
This fund was in addition to the R10 million Wits Hardship Fund, which was created to help struggling students who had historic debt (up to R120,000) to register and find accommodation, Vilakazi said.
About 1,200 students applied for financial aid from the hardship fund, Vilakazi said, and 750 of these students who met the criteria had already received aid. He added that about 27,000 of the 37,500 students at the university received some type of financial aid, scholarship or scholarship.
“[The funding crisis] it is a national problem. It’s not just a problem of wits, “Vilakazi said.
“We have to ensure that the university remains financially sustainable and that we continue to offer quality higher education.”
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