Previous Student at Wits Registering Again
All students must be immune to register, regardless of debt, say Wits protesters
The university has previously said that simply students who have less than R10,000 debt could register
| News | Johannesburg
Students at the Academy of the Witwatersrand and the Central Johannesburg Higher in Parktown protested on Tuesday, demanding that all students be allowed to register, regardless of how much they owe in fees. Photograph: Masego Mafata
- Wits students are demanding that all students exist allowed to annals regardless of how much they still owe the academy.
- Wits University has previously said that only students who accept less than R10,000 debt could register.
- After beingness chased abroad from Empire Route by constabulary, protesters joined students outside the Central Johannesburg College in Parktown to picket.
- CJC students also want anybody to be immune to register and are also demanding ameliorate access to accommodation and funding.
Nearly 50 students gathered outside the Central Johannesburg Higher (CJC) in Parktown on Tuesday.
Earlier in the twenty-four hour period, the group were moved past police from Empire Road where they had been protesting.
The protests on Empire Route were organised by students from the University of the Witwatersrand (Wits) and led by its Student Representative Council (SRC). The students are demanding that the university allow all students to register, regardless of their debt records.
"Every twelvemonth we have the same issues. We have to break the shackle of debt. This is non isolated to Wits, it'due south a national outcome," said Raees Noorbhai, a fellow member of the Wits Coalition for Costless Teaching.
While no memorandum was handed over on Tuesday, students complained that they had previously submitted memos which proved fruitless. The most recent memo was signed by various student councils and societies and submitted to the Dean of Students on 1 March 2021, they said.
The students as well want the university to put pressure level on the government for a Higher Education Debt Bailout; a rejection of the fee increase; the scrapping of the upfront 75% payment of fees for African international students and the conferring of degrees on all students who accept met the requirements, regardless of debt.
According to Noorbhai, students are notwithstanding to receive a response from the university on their demands.
Shirona Patel, head of communications at Wits, said the Dean of Students, Jerome September, had responded to students. Patel said he had told the students that the academy was in talks with the SRC and the vice-chancellor had appointed a team to expect into their complaints
"95% of Wits students have registered. Classes started [on Monday] with over 25,000 students logging-in online. We have fabricated a whole list of concessions to help students who feel hardship to register for the academic year," said Patel.
In a written response to a memo sent in January, the university said that only students who have less than R10,000 debt could register.
"Students with balances more than R10,000 and whose total household income is below R600,000 are able to use for registration assistance by paying 50% of the outstanding debt and making an arrangement to pay the balance of the debt during the form of the academic yr," the university said.
After dispersing from Empire Road, WITS students joined protesting CJC students in Parktown. The CJC students were also calling for all students to be allowed to annals.
"It'southward non fair that university students are getting accommodation and nosotros're not getting accommodation. Nosotros hope to see other TVET [Technical and Vocational Education and Preparation] colleges standing up with united states of america and we tin can't do this alone, we need forces from other universities," said Mbali Radebe, a student at CJC and the one-time secretarial assistant of the SRC.
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Source: https://www.groundup.org.za/article/wits-students-protest-parktown-all-students-be-allowed-register-regardless-historic-debt/
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