DURBAN - A group of University of KwaZulu-Natal students protested outside the Westville campus administration building demanding to be financially cleared and allowed to register manually.
According to the university, there were incidents of violence and intimidation reported on other campuses.
This led management of the institution to suspend the academic programme for the rest of the week because of safety concerns.
The reports revealed that some student leaders have been intimidating members of staff by entering buildings and demanding that activities be halted.
Staff have also been prevented from accessing certain campuses because some entrances have been blocked.
A Student Representative Council (SRC) member who refused to be named said the institution’s demand that returning students should pay 15% of their outstanding fees and registration fees while the fees had increased was not fair.
“The problem that we have now is that academics have begun while most students are denied chances to study because of their outstanding fees. This means if you owe R100 000 you have to pay R15 000 and R7 000 for registration. How does the institution expect that, when everyone was affected by Covid19? Last year, a lot of students did not return due to these fees and now this year we cannot afford that again. This is affecting most of us as we are being left behind.
“We are not violent or being unreasonable. We just want financial clearance for returning students in order to complete their registration.
“We want manual registration so students can successfully register without any glitches because of outstanding fees. We cannot afford to let lectures continue while students have no places to sleep as they are not allowed in residences due to registration.
“The country is on alert level one, therefore everyone should be allowed on campus to fix things so we can all proceed with studying.”
Sduduzo Gumede, 25, a Master’s in commerce management student, said the institution had indicated in her acceptance letter that she should settle her outstanding fees to be able to register.
“I need a total of R9 000 for me to be registered; 15% is R5 000 and R4 000 registration. Otherwise I might not complete my Master’s this year. I also have outstanding fees from last year which I have not paid because I do not have money and I am not funded. I am a child of a single, unemployed parent. She cannot afford to help. I am the only hope to better our lives at home. I feel like the odds are against me.”
Mcedisi Buthelezi, 23, who is supposed to be doing his final year in pharmacy, said he was starting to lose hope that he would complete his studies this year.
“I am behind because our classes began on January 24. I have not attended. The university does not care about us, it keeps taking us back and forth. We are funded by NSFAS and the communication between them and the institution is affecting us. The university says we cannot be cleared because NSFAS has not sent the updated list of funded students hence we cannot register. Yet, NSFAS says it did. We do not know what to do now. This is very painful. NSFAS pays everything for us, from registration to tuition fees and now we are demanded to pay R7 000 while we are funded,” said Buthelezi.
He said that it would be hard to catch up once they were approved. UKZN’s executive director, Normah Zondo, said the university management would meet the legitimate SRC on Tuesday to discuss the memorandum, which was presented on Monday.
“This meeting is part of ongoing efforts by both parties to effectively respond to the needs of our student population and to ensure a conducive learning environment on our campuses. University management appreciates the progressive and peaceful manner in which the SRC has been engaging on these matters and commits to continue working closely with the student body to ensure that the needs of students are met,” said Zondo.
She said the risk management services personnel, supported by the police and private security, were monitoring the situation to ensure the safety of legitimate students, staff and property.
“Online registration continues. Currently, approximately 60% of our expected students have registered. Registration is continuing. Students with financial or academic holds can commence with registration in the interim. They will be automatically registered once the holds have been lifted,” she said.
Daily News