A BOMB threat and student protests interrupted University of Zululand (Unizulu) operations on the KwaDlangezwa campus on Wednesday.
Administration duties ground to a halt when employees were requested to vacate their offices after a safety alarm went off in the administration building and Bhekuzulu Hall at 9:30am.
According to Unizulu Communications and Media Coordinator Terry Stallard, staff left the buildings and gathered at assembly points outside.
‘Police officers and sniffer dogs checked the buildings thoroughly. Staff were asked by campus security to wait until the search was completed,’ said Stallard.
No bomb was subsequently found.
An hour later, the situation intensified when students, led by the Unizulu Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) Student Command, handed over a memorandum to management.
They demanded that all registered students be allocated funds to buy laptops and called for the removal of the Students Representative Council (SRC) president.
‘The National Students Financial Aid Scheme (NSFAS) issued us with R4 000 to spend at the dining hall, I am sure they can now give us R4 500 to buy laptops at the bookshop. ‘At the moment only final year and some first years students are able to purchase laptops. We want all students to be equal,’ said EFF Student Command Secretary Philani Nkambule.
‘We also want the SRC President to be suspended because he has a pending criminal case. We have given management two weeks to meet our demands, or we will boycott the upcoming graduation ceremony,’ he said.
