Johannesburg - After weeks of student protests, the University of Johannesburg (UJ) and students have reached an agreement.
UJ has decided to temporarily lift the suspensions of six students - including outgoing student representative council (SRC) president Khutso Rammutla and secretary Mmangaliso Mkhonta.
The students were suspended for contravening a court order stopping them from protesting on campus, among other transgressions.
They have been protesting against the outsourcing of workers, among them cleaners and gardeners.
In the last two weeks, students have clashed with private security guards and police officers during protests.
On Friday evening during a night vigil, the police fired rubber bullets to get students to disperse. In a statement, UJ vice-chancellor Ihron Rensburg said the country was “experiencing the birth pains of an entire new epoch for universities in South Africa”.
He said after talks with the SRC, worker and student representatives, the institution has agreed that outsourced services will be insourced and workers will be employed by the university.
For now, workers will earn an extra R1 000 and if they go back to work immediately, they will receive a once-off R2500 allowance. Other agreements include:
*15 000 financially needy students will not have to pay registration fees.
* Outsourced workers whose children are admitted to the university will be exempted from the payment of tuition fees.
* Like all the other public higher education institutions, UJ will not increase fees next year.
Rensburg said they will have a shortfall of R199m. He said the institution will have to come up with R60m and the rest of the shortfall will be covered by government.
The institution has, however, declined to remove the private security guards from campus.
Rensburg said: “The university remains resolute in our commitment to securing life, property, the university’s normal operations and the academic programme, and to this end various plans are in place, and under regular review. We request your understanding of the enhanced security arrangements.”
In response to ongoing protests, Universities South Africa have called the protests unacceptable. Dr Oliver Seale, Universities South Africa acting chief executive officer, said they were worried about violent protests at the Cape Peninsula University of Technology and the University of Western Cape.
He said: “Despite our continued engagement to find solutions to these institutional and sectoral challenges, there are still some students who resort to violent and destructive acts that cast not only our universities but the entire higher education system, in a negative light both nationally and globally. We call on our student leadership and other stakeholder groups to act with restraint and to use the opportunities provided to raise and deal with their issues in a non-violent and constructive manner.”
The Star
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