Sasco: Wits is anti-poor

21 January 2015 - 02:14 By Shenaaz Jamal and Katharine Child
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Students at the Wits University (University of the Witwatersrand) in Braamfontein.
Students at the Wits University (University of the Witwatersrand) in Braamfontein.
Image: Gallo Images/City Press/Yandisa Monakali

Wits University has quashed allegations by the SA Students Congress that it was not registering students whose fees were paid by the National Student Financial Aid Scheme.

Yesterday, Sasco members tweeted that "Wits University is refusing all #NSFAS students to register for 2015 year of study [sic]".

The tweets were later deleted.

Speaking to The Times, Sasco president Mcebo Sisulu said: "The university is anti-black and anti-poor and only rich people are going to study [there]."

Sisulu said students were angry and the university was "provoking [them] to burn down the university".

The confusion started after university management sent a letter to first-year students who had applied for funding and not yet received it, instructing them to register and pay half of the R9340 registration fee upfront while waiting to hear if they qualified for funding to secure their spots.

However, if the students did not qualify for funding in the next month they would be able to deregister by February and be refunded their money.

Wits vice-chancellor Prof Adam Habib said students had to be registered on the system to qualify for funding.

He said as money became available more funding was allocated but "demand for funding far outstripped supply". At least 10% of students at Wits relied on NSFAS funding for their studies.

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