The West Coast College has defended its decision to expel a group of its Atlantis Campus students which it said was involved in a violent protest that forced the college to shut down to avoid further destruction to property.
But the Pan-Africanist Movement, speaking on behalf of the students, lashed out at the institution, saying it viewed in a serious light the “parochial and frivolous” attitude of campus management towards students who engaged in a peaceful demonstration
for a better learning environment.
In a statement, the movement said the dismissals were unfair as the expulsion of only seven African students “smacks of racial discrimination and bully-boy behaviour by the Atlantis management under the headship of Thenjiwe Mdoko.
“The gist of the matter centres around a unilateral decision to utilise a new contract to transport students to and from the college without the students’ involvement.
‘‘Second, after 23 years since the dawn of a new democracy, students are still deprived of their true freedom to be represented by a genuinely democratically elected student representative council.
“Any initiatives by students to organise themselves is met with threats of expulsion and repression by the management,” the movement said.
It said disciplinary hearings took place and the students were unfairly dismissed without providing them with an opportunity to put their side of the story nor to defend themselves through some form of representation.
“We have in our possession a list of expelled students whose hopes of furthering their careers have been dealt a blow by the management, which is hell-bent on abusing its authority and to negate its role as loco parentis in the institution of higher learning.
“Approximately 35 students, if not more, are affected by the debacle taking place at the college.”
West Coast College deputy chief executive Rhazia Hamza said the students had violated the code of conduct they should abide by and that the institution followed all necessary processes in dealing with the matter.
“The contract to transport our students to and from campuses came to an end.
“We then went on tender and subsequently awarded the contract to another service provider.
“When the new service provider could not begin transporting the students on the date agreed upon, the college opted to use taxis as an interim measure.
“Some of the students demonstrated and informed the college that they did not want to use the taxis,” she said.
Rhamza said a group of students who were opposed to using the taxis had embarked on a violent protest, disrupted classes and exams and vandalised the campus.