Student protests flare up at DUT

STUDENT protests flared again this week at the Durban University of Technology.

On Monday, violence broke out at the Steve Biko campus after protesting students brought lectures to a halt, over funding and accommodation issues.

According to reports, police used rubber bullets to disperse the crowd.

According to a statement by the Student Representative Council (SRC), despite numerous meetings with management, none have brought any positive results.

ALSO READ: DUT clinches second consecutive Enactus SA championship

The SRC accused the university’s management of colluding with other organizations in the hopes of destabilizing the EFF Student Command (EFFSC) ahead of the SRC elections.

“Students are receiving messages saying they cannot register. The housing department remains the most frustrating department which continues to exclude students from residences, and denies them temporary residence. Appeals also cause delays to the registration process and students are unable to register for both academic and accommodation, but the university wants to operate as normal.We as the SRC led by EFFSC, are totally against the university they want to operate. There was another meeting yesterday which did not yield any results. The management has colluded with other organizations to turn students against the SRC led by EFFSC. We know that most of the executive are ANC members, hence there is a plan to stop EFFSC,” said SRC Acting President, Phumlani Sithole.

Responding to the allegations, the University said during a meeting between the SRC and the Dean of Students on Thursday, 18 July 2019, a consensus was reached on a number of issues and also a platform for constructive engagement between management and the SRC was created.

“The Management team at DUT is extremely disappointed, that the student protesters disrupted classes and intimidated non-protesting students and staff on some of its Durban campuses on Monday.Whilst DUT respects the right to protest, the University urges the protesters to also respect the rights of non-protesting students and members of staff. The University management is disappointed that the SRC did not attend the meeting with the Dean of Students on Monday afternoon, to provide them with feedback and to continue with discussions from their engagements last week,” said the University’s Alan Khan.

ALSO READ: DUT students take SA to the World Cup

Meanwhile, the South African Union of Students (SAUS) said the country must expect more protests if universities continued withholding certificates from students with outstanding fees.

The union claimed that some universities were refusing to implement student support programmes, which were meant to assist disadvantaged students despite receiving funding from government.

Last week, the University of KwaZulu-Natal Westville campus descended into chaos, after more than 100 protesting students burnt furniture and debris. Classes were again disrupted on Monday at UKZN Howard College campus.

Do you want to receive news alerts via Telegram? Send us a message (not an sms) with your name and surname to 060 532 5535.

You can also join the conversation on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.

PLEASE NOTE: If you have signed up for our news alerts you need to save the Berea Mail Telegram number as a contact to your phone, otherwise you will not receive our alerts

Here’s where you can download Telegram on Android or Apple.