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Students from Wits University protesting on March 11, 2021 in Johannesburg.
PHOTO: OJ Koloti / Gallo Images via Getty Images
- The South African Student Union says it will meet Higher Education Minister Blade Nzimande this week.
- The union says that if Nzimande does not give fruitful responses to their demands, they will march towards the Union Buildings.
- SRC from Wits University says it has decided to start allocating the 4 million rand it has raised to help students.
As student protests continue in higher education institutions, the Student Representative Council (SRC) of the University of the Witwatersrand says it has raised nearly R4 million to help students in need.
On Tuesday, SRC President Mpendulo Mfeka said the funds would be allocated to students who were at risk of being financially excluded and those who were unable to register for the 2021 academic year due to financial difficulties.
Mfeka said that while the SRC’s goal was to raise 21 million rand, it decided to start allocating the funds because the registration period would be closed.
“If we wait until we have 21 million rand, we will not be in a position to help these students,” added Mfeka.
READ | 2 students suspended, but not for protests, says Wits
News24 reported in February that Mfeka said the SRC reached out to non-profit organizations and businesses for support as part of their efforts to reach the 21 million rand target.
He said that the SRC decided to step in and raise the funds because they felt that student debt affected not only them, but their families as well. Some hoped to graduate so they could be the breadwinner at home.
Mfeka said Tuesday:
The bell [was] largely an intervention strategy for the financially needy and our goal was R21 million because in our estimate, [the amount] it would have been enough to cover the number of students who are at financial risk. Currently on campus, the debt required for students to register is 40 million rand and we have since placed the request on [the] university to say that you must meet us halfway; let’s raise the other half and we’ll raise the other half, hence the 21 million rand.
He said donors would be made public at a later stage.
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Wits has been at the center of the protests in recent weeks after students took to the streets to fight for a free, quality and decolonized education.
The protests in Braamfontein took a tragic turn two weeks ago when a passerby, Mthokozisi Ntumba, was shot and killed, allegedly by police officers who were dispersing students.
The South African Student Union (SAUS) convened a meeting with the department of higher education to present their demands.
He later called for a national shutdown.
Encounter with Blade Nzimande
SAUS national organizer Yandisa Ndzoyiya said the union was expected to meet with Higher Education Minister Blade Nzimande this week. If there is no fruitful outcome, they will take to the streets and march towards the Union buildings in Pretoria.
Ndzoyiya said that students from all higher education institutions were being mobilized in preparation for the meeting.
He said the union had not been able to meet with Nzimande and that his deputy, Buti Manamela, was not giving them “satisfactory answers”.
Ndzoyiya said the minister was expected to bring a delegation to the meeting. Student agencies and the National Student Financial Aid Scheme (NSFAS) were expected to be part of the commitment.
He said their demands remained for student debt to be eliminated, for all students to register, and for financial exclusion to stop. He added that the union also believes that there should be alternative funding to help graduate students.
Ndzoyiya said:
We are trying by all means to involve the minister, NSFAS and all interested parties. If the minister does not give a solution, then we have to meet with the president. And there’s a president’s office, and that’s the Union Buildings and that’s where we’re going to meet the president.
Meanwhile, Mfeka said Wits SRC was expected to hold a mass meeting with the students at 4:00 p.m. on Tuesday.
He said the resolutions of the mass meeting would determine the way forward.
