What has been happening at Wits?
BRAAMFONTEIN - A general assembly will be held at Wits University after police and students clash and several injuries are reported.
Wits University will open its doors on 10 October after an assembly is held to accommodate the views of all stakeholders.
Students have been protesting since the 19 September after Minister of Higher Education, Blade Nzimande, announced that universities could increase their fees up to eight per cent.
Highly regarded members of society such as advocate Dali Mpofu, Terry Tselani and Moss Mashishi threw their weight behind the students and said that as previous leaders and students at the university they wanted to bridge communications between students and management.
They have urged the students to conduct themselves in a non-violent manner and criticised police for their heavy handedness in the matter.
Senior Communications officer Shirona Patel said that Wits management has agreed to suspend the academic programme with a common objective to resume it in full on 10 October.
“We have made this concession because we do not want the scenes that played out on our University campuses, to be repeated. Such scenes put our students and staff on edge and do not enable a full resumption of the academic programme. If a negotiated outcome can achieve this end, then we will be all the stronger as a University community,” she said.
The suspension of the academic program comes after students and police clashed several times on 4 October after police and security presence was increased, to allow lectures to continue.
Several injuries have been reported, including students, police and one Wits academic, who was taken to hospital. One lecturer in the Humanities department said that the chaos on campus was caused by the opinion polls that was instituted by the university. “How is it possible that there are so many students protesting if they voted No. The results of the polls are very questionable,” he said.
He also criticised police heavy-handedness and added that students have the right to protest and that the university should be supporting them and not allowing police onto campus.
Advocate Dali Mpofu explained to the students that their struggle for free education was a noble and just cause.
“We are here because we do not want blood-shed, we do not want another Marikana,” he said.
The two students who had been arrested earlier were released after the contingent of former Black Student Society leaders negotiated for their release.
