The start of the academic year at Sol Plaatje University in Northern Cape was on Wednesday disrupted by protesting students who blocked the main entrances to the two campuses.
The protests turned aggressive with students intimidating staff, other students and security personnel, said university spokesperson Kashini Maistry.
The students are protesting against the unavailability of on-campus accommodation for first-year students, catering, and the financial exclusion of those with outstanding fees.
Maistry said the university cannot postpone the start of the academic year, which had already been postponed from Monday to today.
“The university already made a concession to delay the start of the academic year from Monday, 21 February to Wednesday, 23 February. No further delays to the start of the academic year will be countenanced,” said Maistry in a statement.
“Teaching and learning will continue online for the remainder of this week and all university meetings or engagements will also be held online. While online classes will continue for the remainder of this week, the blended mode of teaching and learning will commence on Monday, 26 February 2022.”
SRC president Mosiane Conty confirmed that the protest was not sanctioned by the student body, saying it was undertaken by concerned students. He added that the SRC had been engaging with management regarding the accommodation of first-year students.
“The SRC had resolved that no first-year students would live off-campus. At the moment, some first-year students are housed in emergency accommodation. We would like the university to look at a permanent solution,” Conty told Sunday World.
“We are concerned about the readiness of learning when there are students placed on emergency accommodation,” he said, explaining that the emergency accommodation are rooms for returning students that the first-time students have been temporarily housed in.
Maistry said the university is concerned about the reports of intimidation. “These acts of intimidation are not only hindering the academic project and the operations of the university, but indeed infringe on the constitutional rights of these individuals [staff and other students].
“The SMT [senior management team] has taken stock of the situation around accommodation for first-year students and is working towards a resolution that will be communicated to the university community in due course,” added Maistry.
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