Wits poll: 16 000 students in favour of resuming lectures

Wits students react to the #Fees2017 announcement. Picture: Nokuthula Mbatha

Wits students react to the #Fees2017 announcement. Picture: Nokuthula Mbatha

Published Sep 30, 2016

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Johannesburg - The majority of students and staff at the Witwatersrand University want lectures to resume next week despite violent protests against tuition fee hikes, according to a poll released by the institution on Friday.

The poll conducted on Thursday showed that 77 percent of respondents wanted lectures to resume, with 33 voting against it. The university said there were 21 730 responses to the poll, with 16 739 voting for lectures to resume, while 4 991 voted “no”.

The students and staff were asked: “Should Wits open on Monday 3 October subject to appropriate security protocols being in place?”

The process was conducted by an auditing company after the Electoral Commission of SA (IEC) indicated it would not assist the university in conducting the poll. Students were sent a text and were asked to respond with either a “yes” or a “no” while staff received an email with instructions on how to log in and vote.

An urgent court bid by Wits student leaders on Wednesday to halt the poll failed. The court ruled against the students and indicated that everyone’s voices needed to be heard.

University campuses have been rocked by protests since last year as students continue to demand free higher education. An announcement by Higher Education Minister Blade Nzimande that fee increases for 2017 would be capped at eight percent brought another wave of protests as students demanded no fee increases until government implemented free higher education.

Lectures have been suspended at most universities as the unrest continued.

African News Agency

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