Rhodes University vice-chancellor Dr Sizwe Mabizela yesterday urged protesting students to put pressure on government to make more money available for needy students.
Initial requests by Rhodes management that students pay a 50% minimum initial payment (MIP) by January to be enrolled were slashed yesterday to 20% after students said they were unable to do this. Late yesterday the SRC said it had negotiated a 10% registration fee for 2016 for MIP with international students only having to pay 50%.
Although the Black Student Movement collective has been at the forefront of recent student protests over fees and a lack of transformation on campus, they denied they had organised yesterday’s gathering.
Standing next to Mabizela on a table above the large crowd, BA law student Sphume Mathe said she was speaking on behalf of all students and not just the BSM, and called for a radical policy change at Rhodes when it came to access to study there. “Rhodes University was built for whites and their policies have not changed (since). They oppress us, we are here to decolonise the system to cater for us as we are excluded.”
During the street meeting, Mabizela said trying to balance the budget books and provide top quality education in the face of ever increasing municipal rates, electricity and a failing rand was extremely difficult.
He said electricity had increased by more than 23% and that the purchase of the latest books and study material from overseas had increased in the face of a weak Rand and an unfavourable exchange rate.
“One of the challenges facing universities is financial sustainability.”
Although the Rhodes protest was watched by several police officers, it ended peacefully after Mabizela urged them before the street meeting not to get involved – despite road barricades with rocks and burning tyres.
Things later turned nasty, however, when students marched across town to join fees protestors at East Cape Midlands College and police threw stun grenades at them.
The tense standoff at the college however ended peacefully when Dr Mabizela arrived and told police to exercise maximum restraint or run the risk of another Marikana massacre. However, an hour later police arrived and again used stun grenades and water cannons. — david@livewire.co.za
Raise the pressure, VC tells students
Initial requests by Rhodes management that students pay a 50% minimum initial payment (MIP) by January to be enrolled were slashed yesterday to 20% after students said they were unable to do this. Late yesterday the SRC said it had negotiated a 10% registration fee for 2016 for MIP with international students only having to pay 50%.
Although the Black Student Movement collective has been at the forefront of recent student protests over fees and a lack of transformation on campus, they denied they had organised yesterday’s gathering.
Standing next to Mabizela on a table above the large crowd, BA law student Sphume Mathe said she was speaking on behalf of all students and not just the BSM, and called for a radical policy change at Rhodes when it came to access to study there. “Rhodes University was built for whites and their policies have not changed (since). They oppress us, we are here to decolonise the system to cater for us as we are excluded.”
During the street meeting, Mabizela said trying to balance the budget books and provide top quality education in the face of ever increasing municipal rates, electricity and a failing rand was extremely difficult.
He said electricity had increased by more than 23% and that the purchase of the latest books and study material from overseas had increased in the face of a weak Rand and an unfavourable exchange rate.
“One of the challenges facing universities is financial sustainability.”
Although the Rhodes protest was watched by several police officers, it ended peacefully after Mabizela urged them before the street meeting not to get involved – despite road barricades with rocks and burning tyres.
Things later turned nasty, however, when students marched across town to join fees protestors at East Cape Midlands College and police threw stun grenades at them.
The tense standoff at the college however ended peacefully when Dr Mabizela arrived and told police to exercise maximum restraint or run the risk of another Marikana massacre. However, an hour later police arrived and again used stun grenades and water cannons. — david@livewire.co.za
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