SRC demands shutdown ahead of Wits General Assembly
The University of the Witwatersrand must shut down until government “makes a commitment to legislate free decolonised education for all now”. That is one of the demands “regarding #FeesMustFall” made by the Wits Student Representative Council (SRC) ahead of Friday’s General Assembly on the university’s Library Lawns.Wits university should officially shut down until gov makes a commitment to legislate free decolonized education for all now #FeesMustFall— Wits SRC (@WitsSRC) October 6, 2016junkIn a series of tweets late on Thursday night‚ it also demanded that Wits and its vice-chancellor‚ Prof Adam Habib‚ “march with the #FeesMustFall movement to provincial and national sites of the government”.Habib‚ however‚ is unlikely to have supported this call for a shutdown as he has stated that should university activities not resume on Monday the academic year will be abandoned. “It’s not a threat. It’s a simple statement of fact. If Wits University is not teaching‚ is not researching‚ then there’s no purpose in it being open‚” he told Radio 702 on Thursday.Habib had said he was hopeful that Friday’s General Assembly would present a “university pledge” that has a “buy-in from all stakeholders”.The SRC also wants Wits to “use its position as chair of Universities South Africa to call on all VCs to commit similarly on all campuses” to supporting #FeesMustFall. The student group demanded that should the “legislative&exec branches of gov fail to deliver free edu‚ wits Uni will file a class action against the gov in the constitutional court”.The SRC will get an opportunity to voice these demands at Friday’s General Assembly as its leader is listed fifth on the confirmed programme: “the chancellor of the university (Justice Dikgang Moseneke)‚ chairperson of Council‚ chairperson of Senate‚ chairperson of Forum‚ the president of the Students’ Representative Council‚ the president of Convocation”.The university explained in a statement on Thursday that the “role of the General Assembly is to adopt resolutions reached by consensus in the university”. “Wits is holding a General Assembly with the aim to unite all constituencies in a joint stance on an issue of national importance‚ in this case focusing on access to quality higher education‚” it added.Quizzed about the position of militant student groups‚ Habib said on Thursday: “Well‚ they’ve said they would be party to a process to move towards the General Assembly.“We are currently involved in that process. We hope that all stakeholders will buy into it and that we arrive at a consensus position‚” he added.Should this not be achieved‚ Habib cautioned: “If this doesn’t work we are on very slippery ground. I have said it before and I will have to say it again‚ we have two options: Either to open with the police and with security services‚ or if that doesn’t succeed we will have to close down‚ including the residences.” ..
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