DUT condemns use of live ammunition

DURBAN University of Technology has condemned the use of live ammunition and vowed to act swiftly once authorities have completed their investigations into Tuesday afternoon’s tragic death of third year student, Mr Mlungisi Madonsela during a violent clash between students and campus security clashed.

In a media statement on Wednesday afternoon, Professor Thandwa Mthembu, vice-chancellor and principal at DUT said the university condemned the use of live ammunition in the strongest possible terms.

“We will act swiftly once competent authorities have completed their investigations,” he said.

He went on to extended condolences to the family, friends and comrades of Mr Madonsela.

“On behalf of the DUT leadership and management, I am truly sorry. I hope we will all give the deserved respect to the late Mlungisi, and his family as it grapples with this terrible loss,” he said.

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In an effort to explain the events leading up to Tuesday’s tragic shooting and since, Professor Mthembu explained that over the weekend the university management had learnt through various social media platforms that students were planning a total shutdown of all universities in  KwaZulu-Natal.

He said the reasons for the shutdown, according to the posters being circulated, mainly revolved around issues relating to NSFAS funding and student housing.

“On Monday, 4 February, students held protests in both our Durban and Midland campuses, affecting operations in at least 5 out of our 7 campuses. I received a memorandum of demands from the SRC at about 11.30am on Monday which contained the following issues:

• all students to be unblocked and be allowed to register irrespective of their circumstances;
• all BTech students to be funded by NSFAS;
• the shutdown of some residences that students are unhappy with;
• insourcing of security and cleaning staff belonging to private companies contracted with DUT;
• DUT to ensure safety of students using our leased transport service;
• the principle of ‘first-come-first-served’ should replace the system of booking appointments at the clinic;
• end to victimisation of student activists;
• total shutdown of the university until all demands are met.

Professor Mthembu said he immediately called several meetings in reaction to the acceptance of the memorandum and the ensuing protests on the campuses.

“The first meeting was a response to a notification we received separately from our staff members in Student Housing department that taxi operators had prevented students from getting into buses at Smith Street that morning. We called the service providers to an urgent meeting for them to explain the cause for that disruption. They pointed out that they immediately called the leadership of the taxi association to alert them of this disruption in our shuttle service. The shuttle service providers give assurances that the matter had been resolved. The leadership of the taxi association explained to the taxi drivers that they were aware of the buses using their routes to transport our students. We also learned during this meeting that some shuttle buses had also been stopped from operating by protesters.”

ALSO READ: WATCH: High police presence at DUT as protests continue

A second meeting with the management of the Student Services sector was held to discuss the process of responding to the students’ memorandum.

“The same meeting recommended that the meeting of the Executive Management Committee (EMC)  be convened the same day to deal with the demand to shut down the university. The EMC met at 3pm to discuss the demand to shut down the campus and agreed to suspend academic activity for two days (Tuesday and Wednesday) in order to allow some time to give attention to issues raised by students as well as lessen the risk of violence and disruptions on campuses. The meeting resolved that it would assess progress made on Wednesday afternoon in order to determine whether academic activity could resume on Thursday. This decision was communicated to the DUT community and the media immediately after the meeting,” he said.

Management of Student Services met with the SRC on Tuesday, 5 February  at 8.30am to discuss the grievances/demands. The meeting lasted until about 12.30pm and agreements were reached on most issues.  There are two issues the SRC remained unhappy about, namely:

1. The university told them that it was not within its authority to change the NSFAS rules and regulations to fund BTech students.
2. The university also disagreed with the SRC on its demand for cancellation of contracts of some buildings in favour of buildings the SRC itself has identified. However, the meeting suggested a process led by the Dean of Students. The team was set up, comprising of SRC members and relevant officials, that would go verify some allegations that the SRC was making about the state of some buildings.

“We have been in constant communication with NSFAS to get its decision on some 1443 students who had been NSFAS funded in 2018 and whose funding is still unclear. We are also still awaiting its funding decision on some FTENs. Once this information is received, we will register additional students towards meeting our target. We also need to point out that registration numbers have been growing on a daily basis.”

“On Wednesday morning we held a special EMC meeting in the presence of Dr Nzimande, representing DHET. We received a comprehensive report on what happened yesterday. It is important to say that investigations are continuing. I will recommend that we allow this process to be concluded. We will release the full details once authorities release it,” he said/

Professsor Mthembu said the university will remain closed until further notice. “The closure of the university does not mean shutdown; it means that all academic and administrative activities will remain suspended in order to allow the university to deal with this pain and the complexities it portends for our academic and administrative work. We will be engaging with all stakeholders, particularly students, during this period of temporary closure with the intention to collectively find a way-forward out of this difficult period,” he said.

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