The Durban University of Technology (DUT) and the University of KwaZulu-Natal (UKZN) faced a second day of student boycotts and strikes on Tuesday.
The student representative council (SRC) called for the strike, claiming that management had reneged on a deal to release all 2006 exam results.
SRC spokesperson for DUT Mthunzi Gumede said not all the student results had been made available. He said DUT was withholding the results of students who owed the institution more than R10 000.
He said that this had violated an agreement reached last month between the SRC and DUT that all student results would be released and the outstanding balances would be ”rolled over”.
It is believed that as many as 3 400 students have been affected by the decision to withhold results.
He said the SRC was also unhappy with the fact that students had to sign an ”acknowledgement of debt” before they could receive their results.
A shortage of accommodation and ongoing security issues have also prompted the strike.
The Mercury newspaper reported that students who did not want to participate in the strike were threatened. However, both the DUT management and the SRC claimed no knowledge of any such incidents.
The South African Press Association has learnt that writing off the existing student debt would cost DUT nearly R20-million.
In a statement released on Monday, DUT vice-chancellor Nqabomzi Gawe said DUT had provided accommodation for an extra 1 200 students in the current year.
Gumede said he expected negotiations with the management to resume later in the day.
At UKZN student accommodation also dominated student protests. The Mercury quoted UKZN’s SRC secretary general as saying that 220 students had been left without accommodation because the institution had failed to renew its contracts with two Durban hotels. — Sapa