Durban - THE University of KwaZulu-Natal’s (UKZN) student representative council (SRC) has come out strongly against the violence and destruction that has plagued the institution.
In an interview with the Daily News, SRC president Sifiso Simelane said they condemned the violence that was happening at UKZN’s various campuses.
“We are really against it (violence).
“It’s hampering our efforts to reach the students’ goals,” he said.
It has been reported that the UKZN SRC has been in negotiations with the university management over a number of issues, including students having to pay 15% towards their historic debt.
Student representatives have argued that poor students could not afford this, as it often ran into thousands of rand.
The university stood its ground against any further concessions, as it was already sitting with a student debt of R1.7billion.
Without pointing fingers at individuals or groups, Simelane said he suspected a co-ordinated effort behind the torching of various buildings at UKZN campuses.
In a statement on Tuesday, Higher Education, Science and Technology Minister Dr Blade Nzimande called for students to isolate people who were responsible for the violence and destruction of property at UKZN.
Nzimande said the violence came as his department recently held a “successful” meeting with the South African Union of Students (Saus) last week.
Saus represents 26 SRC bodies at public universities around the country.
The union had been in negotiations with the department over the
same issues the students were not
happy about, which included the
historic debt and funding.
UKZN spokesperson Ashton Bodrick said assessments were under way to ascertain the extent of damage to buildings.
He said an informal assessment had estimated the damage to the campus HIV and Aids Support Unit at Howard College to be about R800 000.
He said they were looking at relocating the staff to another venue at the same campus.