Students in poo protest

13 April 2015 - 02:20 By Sanya Mansoor

Students at Wits University have embarked on a poo protest - but instead of hurling excrement they are trying to highlight the terrible conditions in which they live at their residence. “I call it a waterfall. It pours down from the wall. If you’re nearby you would imagine the sound was rain but you look up and the sky is clear,” says a 21-year-old education student at Wits who lives in Esselen Street Residence.The student, who asked not to be named for fear of reprisals, was referring to dripping faeces and urine that runs down the wall as a result of a broken sewage pipe next door in the old Florence Nightingale Maternity home. .Esselen is an eight- storey university residence that houses 343 students.The student, part of about 70 who took part in a protest on Friday during which they handed over a memorandum to Rob Sharman, Director of Campus Housing and Residence Life at the university, said residents can’t open their windows because of the constant stench. Sometimes the neighbours remove waste by throwing it over the wall – hence, the waterfall.In addition the students say the area where the residence is unsafe.Mcebo Dlamini, president of Wits Student Representative Council, said rape and sexual harassment had been reported near the residence.Dlamini has complained to Johannesburg mayor Parks Tau and the Wits administration about a month ago but has became impatient with what he says is a slow response.On Friday, the Wits SRC released a statement on Facebook, which noted students in a number of residence halls were “subjected to violent attacks, decaying infrastructure, defunct sewage systems, in­-house flooding and residence invasion”.The post was in solidarity with the Wits All Residence Council and the Esselen house committee who helped call for a protest on the education campus later the same day.The memorandum given to Sharman referred to issues raised during a meeting with Sharman last November, which included upgrades to technology, safety, sanitation and facilities. One unfulfilled proposal, students said, was to close specific roads to allow the bus to stop right outside the residence door.Students demanded the university give a detailed response within 48 hours.Asked to comment, Sharman said he was battling to get up-to-date first-hand information on some of the issues and would comment later...

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