Karishma Dipa, Tebogo Monama and Lerato Mbangeni
Johannesburg - The government came under pressure on Tuesday to resolve the university fee increase impasse as protests threatened to plunge higher education into disarray.
On Tuesday, escalating protests at Wits University rattled the institution, resulting in academic activities being suspended until Friday when a general assembly will be held to seek a solution.
Students’ actions continued despite impassioned pleas and warnings about the dire consequences.
Wits University as well as the universities of Cape Town and Rhodes have warned that the academic year could be in jeopardy if the institutions do not reopen this week. The protests could also affect the future of hopeful students wanting to enrol next year.
On Tuesday, however, on the day that Wits was due to fully reopen, some defiant students continued their protest even though an audited poll indicated that most students and staff members voted for lessons to resume.
Management had warned that the university would reopen under tight security. True to their word, a high contingency of private security guards and police officers descended on the campus.
The police and students fought running battles and on several occasions during the skirmishes, the police fired stun grenades, especially on those gathered in front of the Solomon Mahlangu Hall.
Several officers and students were injured amid allegations of police brutality. The police crackdown has stoked fears of a repeat of the Marikana tragedy.
But national police commissioner Lieutenant-General Khomotso Phahlane denied that, saying the police were using restraint and trying to defuse the situation.
“Nothing could be further from the truth. The naysayers are undoubtedly disappointed that the SAPS has not fired live ammunition. Our members are strictly prohibited from doing so.”
Phahlane added that some people leading the protests were not part of the institutions.
Four students, including #FeesMustFall activist Busisiwe Seabe, were arrested but later released.
At one stage, calm seemed to have been temporarily restored and some classes continued uninterrupted. But soon afterwards, student masses stormed the campuses and disrupted lectures.
Also read: IOL journalist shot at Wits protest
As the police charged, the gathering retreated to the science stadium, where the protesters were addressed by EFF chairperson advocate Dali Mpofu, who told them that he was there as a “concerned parent” and not on behalf of his political party.
“We are here as parents; we are here as concerned citizens,” he said, adding that parents and former student leaders should go to campuses to listen to students instead of relying on the media for information.
The crowd then erupted into cheers when they began chanting along with Mpofu that “free education is possible”.
As he continued to march hand in hand with students, police fired rubber bullets, stun grenades and tear gas in a bid to disperse them.
As many students ran for cover, many retaliated and hurled officers with rocks and stones. This continued until the masses again reached the hall, where throngs of them chanted struggle songs. Others expressed their struggle in signs. “Wits is ours, #NoSurrender #StudentsRise”, read one poster.
#Wits students throwing rocks at the police in retaliation for several rounds of rubber bullet fired #Fees2017 @IOL pic.twitter.com/Zoi6FaqTyo
— IG: MojoIOL (@MojoIOL) October 4, 2016
However, another student was opposed to the academic disruption and instead held a sign up that read: “Keep Wits Open. It is my democratic right to an education. Stop the violence!”
The enraged protesters told him “his white privilege” was showing, before ripping up his sign. This commotion caused officers to once again fire rubber bullets but defiant students again threw rocks at the police. A female officer was hit and she fell to the ground while her colleagues tried to assist her.
The battle between police and protesters appeared to be too much for some female protesters who stripped off their T-shirts and bras in protest. They wept as they stood in the middle of the crowds, putting their hands up as a sign of surrender and pleading with police to stop shooting them.
Read more: 'Don't mock breasts that saved us from rubber bullets'
Wits management, along with former leaders of the Black Students Society and Student Representative Councils (SRCs), on Tuesday mediated negotiations between student groups to postpone the academic programme.
“To enable this process to continue, we have agreed to suspend the academic programme with a common objective to resume it in full on Monday, 10 October 2016,” senior executives of the university said in a statement.
Earlier, the university said despite disruptions from Tuesday, the academic programme would resume on Wednesday due to a large number of staff members and students who wanted to return.
Wits said they made this concession because they did not want the scenes that played out on its campuses on Tuesday to be repeated.
“Such scenes put our students and staff on edge and do not enable a full resumption of the academic programme. If a negotiated outcome can achieve this end, then we will be all the stronger as a university community. The student constituency is as committed as we are to salvaging the 2016 academic year,” the university said.
Earlier on Tuesday Wits University Vice-Chancellor Adam Habib was adamant that the university would not shut.
Also read: Students refused to meet Wits VC Habib
“What I cannot do is lose the academic year. I've got 36 500 students, all of whom want to conclude the academic year. I have said my only condition is that the academic year be allowed to continue and that’s precisely what the protesters do not want to allow.”
Habib reiterated his stance that it would be hard to open campus and not have security guards and police officers on campus.
“I asked the protesters to give me an assurance that they won’t be violent. And they refuse to do that.”
The Star and ANA