Nicolette Dirk
UWC vice-chancellor Tyrone Pretorius has vowed to deal with all students’ grievances.
Pretorius made this pledge to thousands of students at a mass meeting at the campus’s sports stadium on Tuesday. The meeting was organised by the university’s Student Representative Council (SRC).
The meeting was called so the SRC could inform students about progress relating to their demands, which included the scrapping of student debt, registration fee clearance and an end to outsourced essential services. The university’s main hall was the initial venue for the gathering but it was moved to the stadium because of the large number of students who turned up.
During his address, Pretorius asked students how they had come to the point that there was violence during the protest. “It’s because of you,” they shouted in response.
“I see all your fingers pointing at me and you are convinced you have justifiable reason to feel this way,” said Pretorius. He added that while the institution’s management and students might not agree with each other, a solution would be found.
“You have an opportunity at this meeting to speak to me as you demanded. After this meeting, we will meet with UWC #FeesMustFall students and the SRC,” he said.
Pretorius added that despite stones being thrown by students, they needed to end their protest and work to fix UWC’s “broken house”.
But the meeting took a different turn when the rowdy students refused to give SRC leader Akhona Landu an opportunity to speak. While being booed by the thousands of students in the stadium, Landu appealed for them to settle down so the meeting could proceed. But angry students did not give her a chance to speak.
“You have asked for an opportunity to address your problems with the vice-chancellor and we are trying to give you this opportunity, but you need to remain calm,” she told them. Some angry students even threw small stones at Landu while she spoke.
After several pleas to the students, Landu said the meeting had deteriorated and would have to end. Before she and the SRC members left the stadium she told students that the SRC would inform them when the student body would meet them again.
The crowd calmed down when UWC #FeesMustFall leader Lindokuhle Manyoli addressed them. He said students had finally got what they had been fighting for – a meeting with Pretorius. “Our fight was never with the SRC. We wanted a chance to hand over our memorandum and meet with the vice-chancellor. Our nine-day protest was never planned to be anti-academic or violent,” he said.
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