Minister of Higher Education, Science and Innovation Blade Nzimande has condemned incidents of violent disruption, arson, vandalism and intimidation at the Cape Peninsula University of Technology and the University of Western Cape.
“Government cannot and will not tolerate the threat to lives and destruction of property, and requests university management to tighten up security at all campuses in order to ensure the safety of all students and workers,” said Nzimande.
The minister said arson, vandalism and intimidation will never justify and cannot be associated with any legitimate forms of protest.
He noted that violence must be “condemned unequivocally by all, including by student leaders themselves”.
According to reports, a number of grievances led to the clashes that played out last week on campuses between students, campus security and the police.
Chief among these are changes made to some of the terms of student funding by the government.
Nzimande has since appealed to both universities to work with law-enforcement agencies to ensure that the perpetrators of “these criminal acts” are exposed and that the necessary disciplinary actions are taken against the students involved.
In order to resolve genuine student concerns, Nzimande said, the Department of Higher Education and Training, together with the National Student Financial Aid Scheme, has been consulting stakeholders including the student representative councils to resolve the impasse.
He also appealed for calm and for all the stakeholders to continue to participate in consultation processes, saying he will await a full report from the consultation processes, and a way forward.
For more education news from Sunday World, click here.
Follow @SundayWorldZA on Twitter and @sundayworldza on Instagram, or like our Facebook Page, Sunday World, by clicking here for the latest breaking news in South Africa.
