Violent Wits protest continues as students clash with private security

There was brief chaos outside the Great Hall at Wits University on Friday when students clashed with private security.  

Police and metro police responded swiftly, arriving in nyalas.  

Protesting students are calling for an end to financial exclusion, for the cap on residence allowances from the National Student Financial Aid Scheme to be scrapped and a lack of accommodation rectified.

An emotional and seemingly exhausted SRC president Aphiwe Mnyamana was angry police and security were allowed on campus while students were shut outside. He said all activity had been stopped and students were not studying but the vice-chancellor had allowed police on to the campus.    

“There are four hippos [police nyalas] on our campus. Police have access to campus, security have access to campus but students don't,” he said.

Mnyamana said students just wanted to study. “We want access to education.”

He said students had resorted to wearing masks on Friday as university management was targeting student leaders.  

“They have already suspended the student leaders and they want to suspend us. I don't care about that suspension, we are going to continue fighting for our rights and we are going to continue fighting for access to higher education.

“The VC must come and address us and he doesn't want to — what should we do?  

“The campus won't operate. We maintain peace but it's violence against us and students get agitated,” he said.  

Earlier on, workers affiliated to the National Education, Health and Allied Workers' Union (Nehawu) joined the protest in solidarity with the students and to highlight their own issues.  

Nehawu branch secretary Thabo Modise said workers had not received their salary increment for 2023 despite lengthy negotiations which started last year.  

“We deadlocked and referred our matter to the CCMA and today we are gathering with our members to protest,” he said.

Modise said they supported the students.  

“The least the university could do is to be considerate. Financial exclusion cannot be something that we talk about in 2023.  

“Even academic exclusion. There are a lot of factors that contribute to that, I don't say there is a student that comes here to deliberately fail,” he said.  

He added the union was demanding a 10% increase.    

The university released a media statement on Friday clarifying its position and to “set the record straight” regarding the protest.  

Wits said it has committed R150m for bursaries and scholarships this year.  

“Last year, Wits administered R1.6bn in financial aid, scholarships and bursaries which helped more than 26,000 students.”  

It said R28m has been committed through the Wits Hardship Fund to assist qualifying students to register and secure emergency accommodation.  

“To date, 503 students have been assisted. Wits also matched the R6m raised by the SRC rand for rand. In total, there is R40m available to assist students in need, of which about R36m has already been allocated.” 

Students demanded the university register all students owing R150,000 or less. 

“Wits cannot agree to this request, as it amounts to hundreds of millions of rand, which would make the university unsustainable,” the university said.  

It said about 200 students who qualified academically for 2023, owed funds to the university.  

“Some of the protesters who want to register have failed multiple times, have lost their funding, and are now demanding to return. In one case, a student has been in the system for eight years, and is only in his second year of study.” 

Some of the students have dispersed.

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