Blade must take the lead in assisting Vice-Chancellors to resolve student protests
26 February 2016
The DA welcomes the visit by Deputy Minister of Higher Education, Mduduzi Manana, to the North West University’s (NWU) Mafikeng Campus following the escalation of tensions, allegedly by the EFF, resulting in the torching of university buildings on Wednesday night.
While this is a step in the right direction by the Deputy Minister, we remain disappointed that Minister Nzimande himself has done little to reassure an anxious public that his main concern is with ensuring that the vital tasks of teaching, learning and research continue at our Universities. Indeed, in spite of his issuing a statement on Wednesday, Minister Nzimande remains conspicuous by his absence on campuses and in the public eye.
I will thus request that the Minister be summoned before the Portfolio Committee on Higher Education to present a plan detailing how he, together with the Vice-Chancellor concerned, Professor Kwadi, will make sure that students at NWU will be assisted with accommodation and academic support to ensure they complete their studies this year. The Ministry should provide funding as required to make this possible.
Given the failure of the Minister to assist students on Mahikeng Campus so far, those who require assistance in the interim can contact the DA’s North West Provincial Office in Mmabatho on 018 392 7270 or 079 348 1998.
I will also request that the Portfolio Committee conduct an oversight visit to all protest-hit universities, so that it may contribute to finding a lasting solution to these apparently intractable problems.
The DA supports the right of all groups to protest when there are legitimate complaints. However, we condemn violent protest and vandalism, which run counter to the principles of democracy. We are particularly concerned that the violence on campuses nationwide is undermining the rights of other students to continue with their studies.
NWU’s Mahikeng campus has had to shut its doors indefinitely and send students home, leaving those reliant on campus residences, and without resources to return home, without shelter, and bringing their studies to a halt. We recognise that Universities are autonomous institutions, but believe that Government can play a constructive role in ensuring that this situation is not duplicated in other campuses.
The violence at NWU is believed to have begun after the Economic Freedom Fighters Student Command (EFFSC) members and aligned students disrupted the inauguration of a newly appointed SRC on campus. This has brought home to us all that the ongoing protests across the country are not just going to go away. Those who perform criminal acts need to be arrested and charged, while the generalised disruption of classes is an illegitimate way to pursue one’s interests.
We do understand that the Department of Higher Education has been working behind to scenes to assist. But this is not enough. Hundreds of thousands of students have been left behind on their academic programmes, while many are in physical danger as tensions continue to rise unabated.
It is twenty-two years after the end of Apartheid. How shocking that students are still being mobilised along racial lines by radical groups. We cannot allow these divisive groups to fan the flames of violence and destruction, and thus prevent the majority of students from accessing their right to education.
In a time of economic hardship and job losses, all political parties should be focused on finding ways to work together for the good of every South African, and government should be showing leadership and direction to ensure that the situation does not escalate to the point where life is lost.
Statement issued by Prof Belinda Bozzoli MP, DA Shadow Minister of Higher Education and Training, 26 February 2016
