Student leaders held a picket outside Unisa’s Sunnyside campus, according to the EFF.
Watch the video here:
The struggle never ends….Pretoria unisa pic.twitter.com/JqZg9BkoBB
— Son of Elizabeth (@Erickmabunda) January 12, 2018
It is alleged that the protesters want the university’s management to allow walk-ins and to process late applications.
Registration was halted on Friday morning because of the protests.
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https://twitter.com/Nkanyiso_ngqulu/status/951722381868982272
Unisa could not be reached for comment at the time of going to press.
EFF spokesperson Mangaliso Sambo said the organisation took “a collective decision to shut down the campus with immediate effect”.
“The university displayed its arrogant posture by closing their gates while knowing they are the biggest university in the country and have a duty to accept a vast number of poor but academically deserving students,” said Sambo.
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“We are unhappy with the way the vice-chancellor Professor Mandla Makhanya was defying the agreement with Universities SA and the department of higher education and training that all universities must allow walk-ins and late applications,” he said.
“This is why we were provoked to a protest action.”
It is alleged that Unisa failed to implement processes that would allow new students to apply for first semester 2018, which led to the protests.
https://twitter.com/kudamazh/status/951720335505682437
Am experiencing the same problem😭😭 pic.twitter.com/6LS5OiLool
— Banana (@blackbananaa) January 12, 2018
Students claimed the online registration system had crashed, which prevented the institution from doing registrations without students coming to the university.
Police barricaded streets leading to the campus.
Tshwane metro police was not available for comment.
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UNISA contact Centre, online system & queues will humble you… pic.twitter.com/6uIybit6YI
— Pro Philani (@prophilani) January 12, 2018
Meanwhile, there could be more problems at Unisa on Monday.
Twitter user Yuri Orlav claimed workers were about to due to down tools over a salary dispute.
https://twitter.com/Seabelomodibedi/status/951701629304262662
“Unisa employees are going on a strike for a salary increase,” said Orlav.
Situation Pretoria unisa…the EFF guys pic.twitter.com/wQMD4lpZ7B
— Son of Elizabeth (@Erickmabunda) January 12, 2018
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