Fort Hare University exams postponed due to wage strike

The University of Fort Hare was left with no option but to postpone the remaining exams due to the ongoing wage-negotiations strike by unionised academic and non-academic staff.

The remaining exams that were supposed to have been written this week until Friday will now be written in the next semester‚ between July 17 and 20.

Students were still left with four days of exams when the more than 500 Nehawu unionists downed tools on Tuesday morning and switched off the electricity supply to the university’s three campuses‚ East London‚ Alice and Bhisho and locked out staff from their workstations.

The workers barred thousands of students‚ who were supposed to have written their final papers this week‚ from entering the campuses.

The striking workers demanded a 12% wage increase‚ while the university said they could only offer 6%.

The staff also demanded a R500 increase on the monthly housing allowance and an across-the-board notch progression of 5%‚ but the university said they can only afford a R100 extra housing allowance and no increase in notch progression.

Yesterday‚ the university's Alice campus was on total shutdown with no-one allowed to enter.

- DispatchLIVE