/ 13 October 2016

VUT sees fire, as student leaders urge calm

VUT students have grown increasingly frustrated with management's actions of late.
VUT students have grown increasingly frustrated with management's actions of late.

The Vaal University of Technology (VUT) is in a precarious position, grappling to play catch-up after a significant chunk of the academic year was lost during student protests in May. After returning from recess, the university opened its doors on Monday to find that students were still frustrated by the VUT management’s response to students.

“We’ve not heard anything from the VC [vice-chancellor]. We don’t know what’s happening. They don’t talk with us. They don’t even come,” said Abongile Xwazi, 22, a member of the student representative council at VUT.

Xwazi is head of the SRC’s legal and transformation portfolio. He was one of 19 students who were suspended from the university in May after he participated in #FeesMustFalls protests. On Tuesday, Xwazi and the other 18 students heard the outcome of their disciplinary hearings. Seven students were expelled, and the others received warning letters or suspensions.

The protests to bring back students
In response to the expulsions and suspensions, VUT students began another wave protests on Tuesday, demanding that students be allowed to return to campus. On Wednesday night, a container with spare equipment — such as mattresses and fridges — was torched along with the residence administration office.

Already, there’s a hint of division in this new round of protests. On Thursday morning, students were reportedly stoning cars that passed by as they protested outside the university grounds. Police also fired rubber bullets and stun grenades at the students. SRC members, however, disagree with the vandelism, saying that it will negatively impact on the possibility of negotiations with VUT management.

“We don’t want to just protest and not discuss because that would be unreasonable,” Xwazi said.

The violence has come after long months of frustration. In September 2015 — before the #FeesMustFall movement took off — students shut VUT down after two of their peers were murdered. The university was closed for at least three days, as student protesters demanded that VUT management implement better security measures, including street lights, CCTV cameras and biometric sign-ins at residences.

In May, protests took off again and the university’s administration block was torched, leading to yet another shutdown. Although VUT is still open in this latest wave of protests, there’s a long way to go to ensure it stays that way.

Classes, cops and management negotiations
Dr Segopane Seroka, the acting deputy vice-chancellor of VUT, told media on Thursday morning that the university is continuing its academic programme despite the violence on Wednesday night. Seroka said that management is also making arrangements to engage students.

“Officially we are open, we are operating. It’s a pity we couldn’t continue the academic catch-up as planned because of this three days of disruptions,” Seroka said.

“It’s still our intention to engage students. We plan an engagement meeting tomorrow with student organisations, because that’s what we’re left with.”

Seventeen students were reportedly arrested but all have been released. Police and private security are posted on campus, with police using stun grenades and rubber bullets to disperse students. Police continued to fire at students on Thursday morning as protests continued.

“We are having a heavy police presence, we have beefed up our private security services,” Seroka said. “We haven’t had the extensive damages that you can see in other institutions, but we are not unscathed because of the little burnings that happened last night.”

Seroka said that the university will meet with student organisations on Friday morning, but students seem to have no knowledge of the meeting as yet. Xwazi stressed that students desired to negotiate, but they had received no contact from the university management.

Education and sacrifice
Along with the demand that students be allowed to return to campus, protesters are also calling for free education and better services at their residence buildings, which they say are dismal. The SRC has been disbanded, and members of the EFF student command, which was the majority in the SRC, the ANC-aligned Progressive Youth Alliance and the Pan Africanist Student Movement of Azania are currently leading the protests.

If the academic year continues, Xwazi, an undergraduate student, will receive his degree. He knows many students want their graduate scrolls, but he believes that free education is worth the sacrifice.

“Indeed the protest does impact me. But it’s the struggle. We have to make sacrifices. We are sacrificing studies for free education,” he said

“It’s not like we enjoy doing it. We are forced to do it.”