SRC vows to make Wits ungovernable until student demands are met

The University of the Witwatersrand's student representative council (SRC) vowed on Saturday to render the university ungovernable until it becomes student- and worker-friendly.

This as the institution threatened legal action against the council if it did not halt protest action which started this week and saw shops forced to shut, roads blocked and infrastructure damaged in Braamfontein. 

The protests turned violent on Friday outside the university's Great Hall when students clashed with private security.

They are calling for an end to the exclusion of those with historic debt, for the cap on residence allowances from the National Student Financial Aid Scheme to be scrapped and a lack of accommodation rectified.

They also want the first fee payment of R10,000 — demanded upfront for access to the institution's residences — to be deferred the same way it is for registration. 

At Saturday's briefing, SRC president Aphiwe Mnyamana was joined by fellow council members and National Education, Health and Allied Workers' Union (Nehawu) branch secretary Thabo Modise.

On Friday, workers affiliated to Nehawu joined the protest to highlight their issues.  

Among issues Mnyamana addressed was “misinformation” the SRC was being used by political parties to serve their interests.

He also took a swipe at Fikile Mbalula: “There was something problematic which was said by the secretary-general of the ANC, which is that we [SRC] are poor-performing students.

“At Wits, for you to be an SRC member you must have an average of 60% if you are an undergrad, you must have an average of 65% if you are postgrad. So all SRC members at Wits are students who are well-performing.”

Mnyamana elaborated on the issues behind the protest and called for higher education minister Blade Nzimande and his deputy Buti Manamela to resign for failing to tackle students' issues.

He also launched a broadside at “black incompetence” within Wits' management team.

“We cannot have a chair of council who is black, we cannot have a vice-chancellor who is black ... [and] a chancellor who is black — but black people are struggling.

“Black students must be accommodated at Wits and black students will be accommodated at Wits. That is a hill as SRC we are willing to die on.”

The SRC is due to meet Wits management on Saturday afternoon, he confirmed. 

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