The Great Hall at Wits University. Photo: Supplied
The University of the Witwatersrand said classes would continue while management and the students representative council (SRC) continued negotiations to resolve a protest over fees and accommodation.
Vice-chancellor Zeblon Vilakazi and his management team met SRC members on Wednesday, Wits spokesperson Shirona Patel confirmed, adding: “Both parties agreed to de-escalate the situation and to continue with engagements in order to try to resolve matters as soon as possible.”
Wits students began protesting last week on Wednesday over the exclusion of students who cannot register for the new academic year because they owe the university money, or cannot secure accommodation at residences because they cannot afford the deposit.
The National Student Financial Aid Scheme (NSFAS) this year introduced a new policy to cap its student accommodation allowance at R45 000 a year.
The National Student Financial Aid Scheme (NSFAS) held consultations to discuss the problems ahead of the commencement of academic classes.
During a meeting held on Monday, NSFAS officials and the leadership of the South African Union of Students (SAUS) agreed that the union would help the scheme get details of students who do not have accommodation and are reportedly being forced to sleep in public places.
NSFAS said it was in the process of identifying alternative accommodation within the stipulated rate of R45 000 a year.
“The priorities will be the universities affected by the accommodation cap and they include the following: the University of Pretoria, University of the Witwatersrand, Stellenbosch University, University of KwaZulu-Natal, Rhodes University and Sol Plaatje University,” it said in a statement.
The scheme’s spokesperson Slumezi Skosana said where necessary, NSFAS would have to “take extraordinary measures to ensure that NSFAS-funded students are not left stranded due to skyrocketing accommodation costs”.