Cape Town - Protesting students have warned that UCT will be shut down on Friday after protests relating to the expulsion and suspension of students erupted on Thursday.
On Friday mornng there were calls on Twitter for students to brave the rain and continue the protest. It was unclear how many had gathered so far. Students met until late on Thursday night in order to determine their course of action.
On Thursday the university said three students had appeared before the Student Disciplinary Tribunal (SDT) on Thursday morning. Their cases related to their alleged involvement “in unlawful activities during the #Shackville protest in February this year, which included acts of violence, vandalism, assault and arson”.
“It is important to stress that UCT has only instituted action against a very small number of students who are alleged to have committed criminal acts including assault, intimidation, arson and vandalism during the protests earlier this year,” said Kylie Hatton, UCT’s acting executive director of the communication and marketing department.
She said that earlier in the year a disciplinary tribunal had resulted in two students being expelled after a plea-bargaining process in which they admitted guilt. They are appealing the sanction and so the final outcome is not yet determined.
The university has an interdict in place against three students, two of whom are in the current SDT and one who was in the previous SDT.
“The interdict was applied for and granted by a judge on the grounds that this was necessary to protect the campus community and property. This is subject to an appeal to be heard in the Supreme Court of Appeal on September 29,” Hatton said.
“Given that thousands of people have engaged in protests, even disruptive ones, over the last 18 months, it is evident that the SDT and interdicts, which involve five students, are not a tactic to undermine protest. The university encourages all on campus to behave with respect for the rights of others, including those of staff members and students who choose not to take part in protest action,” she said.
The Jammie bus service was also disrupted on Thursday morning. The university later announced that all bus routes had been resumed.
The university said a group of about 200 protesters - including UCT workers and students, and students from other universities - were moving between various buildings on lower campus and along Main Road between Rondebosch and Observatory.
One of the students who appeared before the tribunal on Thursday, Masixole Mlandu, said: “We (the collective of Fees Must Fall in UCT and the Western Cape), demand the unconditional withdrawal of all suspended, interdicted and expelled students across the country.”
Some of the students who protested on Thursday declined to be named out of fear of reprisal.
A 22-year-old student told the Cape Argus: “I think it is necessary. It is relevant. We cannot continue making whiteness comfortable. It is a system that privileges and favours and protects white people. So this is white privilege.”
Another student, Joseph Maminze, 21, from Pretoria said: “I am here in solidarity with the students who have been interdicted and victimised. I believe that we all need and want an education. We cannot be ostracised for our actions that were not even criminal. I think it is criminal, the fact that you are taking away education from young Africans.”
Cape Argus