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By Sisonke Mlamla 
7h ago
Cape Town – Nine students at the Cape Peninsula University of Technology (CPUT) in Bellville were evicted from the South Point residence on Sunday night, with their lease terminated and an urgent injunction was allegedly secured today from a higher court against them.
Ndumiso Davidson, executive director of South Point, a privately owned residence that houses CPUT students, said the students were charged with serious criminal acts including arson, public violence and malicious intent to damage property.
Davidson said that in addition to his resolution to add charges of assault, hostage-taking and serious bodily injury, the students were required to leave the facility on Sunday.
“The protest action at The Orchard (residence) began on August 25, primarily around complaints against the CPUT and government regulations on Covid-19 issues over which South Point has limited, or even no control.” , said.
He said that the students requested the relaxation of health protocols, which was not in line with the best interests of the residential complex.
SA Student Union spokesman Thabo Shingange said he was awakened by phone calls from 2 am Sunday, because South Point, “terrorized and evicted students using gorillas in the middle of the night.”
Shingange said that if South Point cannot accommodate students, then “we don’t have to accommodate them at our universities, plain and simple.”
Lauren Kansley, a CPUT spokeswoman, said the institution was aware of the evictions of students from one of its privately rented residences.
“The eviction must be seen in context. These students are charged with a variety of criminal activities including malicious damage to property, public violence, arson and interfering with the operations of the residence, ”said Kansley.
He said some of the allegations included taking staff members hostage, endangering the life of the building manager and his family, and stoning vehicles.
He said that such criminality cannot be tolerated and “we respect the service provider’s right to take legal action.”
“We must also protect the rights of the majority of students and staff to live, work and study in peace without fear of being intimidated by a minority group,” Kansley said.
Davidson said South Point condemned the destructive and violent behavior fueled by 30 to 40 students at The Orchard, which caused more than R1 million in property damage and negatively impacted the safe and peaceful living environment of hundreds of other students. university residents, as well as staff and their families living in the residence.
Sibabalo Mdingi, a member of the SA (Sasco) Student Congress at the CPUT, said that those students were holding peaceful protests for their rights, but the reactionary measures taken by the institution led the students to invoke anarchy for a way of life Or death.
Six other students were also arrested on September 1 in connection with the same criminal acts. Davidson said they were awaiting bail hearings.
Cape argus
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