By SINO MAJANGAZA and LULAMILE FENI
Unrest among students over accommodation flared in both Mthatha and East London yesterday.
In Southernwood, East London, police fired rubber bullets to disperse hundreds of rioting Walter Sisulu University (WSU) students last night.
At WSU’s Mthatha campus students were injured when a security vehicle was flipped and torched by angry students. The car belonged to a security company hired on a temporary basis, according to WSU spokeswoman Yonela Tukwayo. She said the situation at the Mthatha campus was getting more volatile each day.
“There are reported injuries, but we do not have more detail on that at the moment,” she said.
In East London, blockades of burning tyres were put out on the corners of Oxford Street, and St James Road, Webb Street and St Peters Road, and Gately Street and St James Road.
The blockades of toxic fumes went up after a meeting with management and the SRC collapsed last night. Calm had returned by 20.38pm but 10 police vans, an armoured truck and two BCM law enforcement vans stayed on patrol.
Tukwayo said grievances at the both campuses were about the state of accommodation.
“In Mthatha students complain about the condition of the residences. We cannot shy away from the fact that some of our residences are not in a good space ,” she said.
The main reason the university could not carry out its maintenance plans was because of the large amount of money owed to the university by both former and present students.
“By December 2017 the university was owed in excess of R800-million. That has a dire impact on maintaining our infrastructure. The main challenge is that students refuse to pay,” she said.
Those who owed money were mainly outside of the NSFAS threshold. “We introduced a system where students are expected to pay a portion of what they owe, because we realised that each year the money owed to the university by students was escalating.”
Tukwayo said on the BCM campus students were complaining about the online system used to allocate students to residences.
In Mthatha, the SRC at the Nelson Mandela Drive learning site was still in a meeting at the time of going to print.
Yesterday Mthatha police confirmed investigating three cases of attempted murder and malicious damage to property after a shooting incident at WSU on Monday.
Two security guards and a student were injured at the Nelson Mandela Drive campus when guards clashed.
Tension flared when three former Xhobani Security guards, who were dismissed by the company, returned to campus and demanded to be in-sourced by the university.
A security company vehicle was stoned during the protest action.
Academic Professional Staff Association (Apsa) provincial spokesman Luthando Mxoli said: “There is one guard who is still in hospital. He is stable. We visited him and I think he is on the road to full recovery.”
Mxoli said Apsa – which organised the protest – was yet to be recognised, but they were organising in all institutions of higher learning.
On the criminal investigation, Mthatha police spokeswoman Captain Dineo Koena said: “The dockets will be taken to the director of public prosecutions.”
The three security guards, who were dismissed by Xhobani Security for misconduct, arrived at the campus on Monday with about 10 others and demanded to be appointed by WSU. Xhobani is responsible for security at WSU.
Mxoli said: “In some universities this has happened but we are faced with arrogant and stubborn management at WSU. But we are sure they will eventually bow down.”
Mxoli said that they were busy engaging stakeholders, including students, about insourcing.
Tukwayo said although the situation was triggered by the three guards who were dismissed by Xhobani, others joined in demanding that they be employed by the university.
“Not all the guards of Xhobani participated,” she said.
Tukwayo confirmed that one of the three people injured in the shooting was a student.
“This has seen students retaliating and chasing away Xhobani security.
“Because we cannot leave the institution without security, the situation compelled us to hire Falcon Security. They are not enough and we need more security,” said Tukwayo.
Xhobani management, based in East London, declined to comment.