UJ students protest exclusions policy

Following violent student protests and police action at the University of Johannesburg (UJ) on Wednesday, the university applied for an urgent court order to prevent further student action and was locked in meetings with students on Thursday.

The restraining order was filed to stop students, led by the student representative council (SRC) and the ANC Youth League, from engaging in “further unlawful protests on UJ’s Doornfontein campus”, university spokesperson Herman Esterhuizen said in a statement.

SRC chairperson Mehlomakulu Mabona ka Mthimkhulu told the Mail & Guardian that financial and academic exclusion were at the heart of Wednesday’s protests. Many students had not received funding owed to them from the National Student Financial Aid Scheme, had therefore not paid fees in full and so faced expulsion, he said.

He said the delayed funding meant that “they have not paid their residences and cannot register for the second semester. This also means that students are unable to get their June results.”

Students were also protesting against the university policy that excluded them academically, Mabona ka Mthimkhulu said.
About 100 students participated in Wednesday’s protest that disrupted academic and administrative activities, Esterhuizen said.

“The students in question raised concern about students’ academic exclusion regarding the university’s mid-year registration policies,” he said. UJ policy is that a student who failed a subject in the first semester would not be allowed to continue in the second semester.

Mabona ka Mthimkhulu said all the students want is a fair chance at education. “If you are going to expel a student, do so in December—not in the middle of the year. Which other institution will accept a student mid-year?” he said.

SRC president Emmanual Mapheto said students had called off the protests after reaching an agreement that would allow students to register for the second semester and for the subjects they had failed.