Johannesburg - The troubled North-West University (NWU) will reopen at the end of March, the institution’s campus rector said during an inspection of damages allegedly caused by protesting students.
NWU Professor Davhana-Maselesele said: “We are reopening on the 29th of March. Our intention is to save this semester. We will teach on Saturdays and we should be able to recover with the measures that we will put in place”.
The campus rector made the remarks during the visit to the NWU by North-West Premier Supra Mahumapelo on Tuesday to ascertain for the damage caused during the latest unrest at the university.
A number of buildings were set alight at the campus allegedly by protesting students.
Also read: NWU shuts down campus after violent protests
Mahumapelo decried the torching of the buildings as unfortunate and assured Davhana-Maselesele and her colleagues that they will have the full support of government.
“This is an unfortunate incident. My own view is that this is not linked to students’ demands because there was a clear agreement on how the issues that students were raising were going to be addressed and there was a process agreed to,” said Mahumapelo.
“Therefore the University’s approach must be commended. You have our support. We will encourage you to address the legitimate demands of the students and solve them, and where we are able to help we will do so.”
Davhana-Maselesele said the university was determined to salvage the situation despite the damage caused.
ANA