Durban - With registration less than a week away, universities have beefed up their security in anticipation of protests, which are common during this period.
However, they said they had been constantly engaging with student bodies to prevent protests flaring up.
Mangosuthu University of Technology (MUT) dean of students Thembi Kweyama said that an additional 13 security guards would be working during the first week of registration. In the second week, there would be 26 additional guards on campus.
Kweyama said the institution had had numerous engagements with
the student representative council (SRC), including a meeting yesterday, and been planning the registration with them.
She was also firm that MUT did not take walk-ins and would only allow people who had received firm offers on campus.
Kweyama said registration would take place over numerous days to prevent long queues. Returning students were encouraged to register online.
Over the past few years, the registration period at various universities across the province has been marred by protests that have been characterised by violence. The damage caused during the protests has run into millions of rand and resulted in confrontations between security officials, the police and students.
In February last year, Durban
University of Technology student
Mlungisi Madonsela was killed during a protest when he was shot at its Steve Biko campus.
University of KwaZulu-Natal spokesperson Ashton Bodrick said: “Risk Management Services continue to engage with, and be involved in, regional and national safety and security task teams and the SAPS directorate responsible, as safety and security of our campuses and residences is of the utmost importance.”
He said UKZN was working towards a violence-free year on its campuses and was looking at various initiatives to support this goal.
Bodrick said the UKZN executive management committee took the issues raised by students seriously
and had been addressing matters
that had been sore points for students over the years. Interaction between students and the university was ongoing, he said.
Lusami Netshitomboni, the acting director for communications, marketing and events at Unisa, said they had had constant engagements with stakeholders of the university during the year.
He said they would respond to protests “according to their merits”.
For those looking to register, the dates are:
Unisa: January 3 to 23.
Mangosuthu University of Technology: January 13 to 23 for both returning and new students.
University of KwaZulu-Natal: January 7 for returning students; on-
campus registration for first-time entering students takes place from January 27 to 31.