Wits: Student protest is ‘politically motivated’
Wits University says it believes the student protest against what they claim to be financial exclusion due to historical debt, as well as a lack of funding and accommodation, is politically motivated.
Unhappy students returned to the streets of Braamfontein on Friday for a third consecutive day.
The SRC’s demands include registration of all students owing R150 000 or less, the university to register all 6 000 students on the SRC’s list, an additional R30 million to the Wits Hardship Fund, and the university to secure 150 more emergency beds for students sleeping in libraries.
But Wits spokesperson Shirona Patel says there are already programmes to assist students in need.
"Wits has committed R150 million for bursaries and scholarships this year. Last year, Wits administered R1.6 billion in financial aid, scholarships and bursaries which helped over 26,000 students. R28 million has been committed through the Wits Hardship Fund to assist qualifying students to register and to secure emergency accommodation.”
On the demand for registration of over 6000 students on the SRC list, Patel says some of the protestors who want to register have failed multiple times.
"There are about 200 students who qualify academically in 2023, and who owe funds to the university. Some of the protestors who want to register have failed multiple times, have lost their funding, and are now demanding to return. In one case, a student has been in the system for eight years and is only in his second year of study.
“Wits is committed to welcoming as many academically deserving students as possible. We cannot enrol students who have performed dismally simply because they feel they must be admitted," she says.
Patel believes the protest is politically motivated.
"We have asked for a meeting, we have asked multiple times and they refused, they said unless all the demands are met they won't speak to anyone.
“But I think a lot of it seems to be politically motivated. It looks like a lot of people that are here are from different political organisations, you can see them by the colours they are wearing," says Patel.
Academic activities have so far not been affected.
"They are concentrated in one area, which means the rest of the campus can operate, so we have also decided that we are offering all programmes in a hybrid model. So some of it is online, some of the classes are still continuing,” Patel says.
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