Pretoria - Former Fees Must Fall leader Nompendulo Mkhatshwa, who now chairs parliament’s portfolio committee on higher education, science and innovation, has criticised vice-chancellors at universities for how they are handling negotiations during student protests.
Mkhatshwa was a prominent leader of the #FeesMustFall movement in 2015/16, and was also the president of the Wits SRC when the historic fee protests erupted at the time.
She is now an ANC MP heading up the higher education portfolio committee.
Mkhatshwa told Newzroom Afrika that following protests in several universities, including the University of the Witwatersrand, University of Johannesburg and the University of KwaZulu-Natal, among others, that she was disappointed at university management.
“We are highly disappointed at the manner in which some of our vice- chancellors have been handled the protest. They clearly have no capacity to negotiate, mediate or resolve conflict,” she said.
Mkhatshwa did not comment on the conduct of protesting students, who have blocked roads with rocks and other objects, damaged and destroyed public infrastructure, amid their protests.
Mkhatshwa said that as a committee, they have implored the Department of Higher Education to assist the sector to come up with better tools that will aid in mediating and resolving conflict.
“Now we see people dishing out suspensions like its fashionable, like its free education. It cannot be acceptable. Our vice-chancellors are not assisting the situation.”
Students from UKZN and Wits have been protesting over similar issues including financial exclusion, and over the National Student Financial Aid Scheme’s (NSFAS’s) accommodation cap, which has been reduced to R45 000 per student.
University officials at UKZN are set to meet members of the SRC on Thursday to resolve the issues.
Meanwhile at Wits, suspended SRC president Aphiwe Mnyamana spoke to eNCA on Wednesday, and said they have suspended the protest for a day in order to have a meeting with the institution.
“If the vice-chancellor wants to meet us, he must temporarily lift our suspensions so that we can go to that conversation. There won’t be a meeting with the vice-chancellor if all SRC members are not there,” he said.
Wits University spokesperson Shirona Patel said they are still paving a way in engaging the students as long as they agree to stop blocking the university entrance and disrupting lectures.
“They made demands including that police be removed from campus. We have agreed to that and police are out of campus already ... The second (demand) is on the private security and the reduction of the security. We have agreed that as things calm down and there is no damage to property, we will reduce the number of protection services,” Patel told eNCA.
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