Vuyolwethu Sangotsha

Vuyolwethu Sangotsha

Non-striking students at the Walter Sisulu University were reportedly chased out of their classes by striking students yesterday.

Lectures stopped on Wednesday following a dispute between the university's management and students about unpaid university fees.

The students are demanding that the university register students who owe the institution thousands of rands in fees.

"I was told that angry students chased out students who wanted to attend lectures, saying that they could not study while [others] were not studying," said a mechanical engineering student who wanted to remain anonymous for fear of being victimised.

He said he went to the university yesterday to attend lectures but found that there were none in progress.

Sowetan has established that a number of students of other subjects, and on other campuses, did not attend lectures.

But the university's management maintained that lectures restarted yesterday, following Wednesday's disruptions.

"Lectures have resumed today [Thursday] on all campuses. The university's management has agreed to allow indebted students with special cases to register until [Friday]," said spokesman Samkelo Ngwenya.

Ngwenya said agreement had been reached that a committee of student representatives, and of representatives of the university's student affairs and finance departments, be formed to assess the circumstances of indebted students.

"Students who owe fees to the university will make arrangements with this committee on how to pay.

"The committee will make recommendations to the university's management on the way forward," said Ngwenya.

A Sowetan team was met by toyi-toying students in Sasco T-shirts at the East London campus of the university.