Johannesburg - Wits University students intensified their protest over a lack of accommodation and financial exclusion on Thursday.
The students, who have been protesting since Tuesday, have vowed to continue their fight until management meets their demands.
Classes were disrupted for the better part of Thursday as students continued their opposition to the concessions confirmed by the university aimed at helping the situation.
Thursday’s action saw some parts of Braamfontein come to a standstill as rioting students made their way around the CBD. Tyres were burned and litter was thrown about the streets by students who accused the university of being deaf to their needs and demands.
The Wits Student Representative Council (SRC) said: "Students who haven't registered due to financial exclusion have been made to suffer due to a lack of money while the university has enough capacity to accommodate them“.
"We are not happy about the way the university is handling the matter of the Hardship Fund, which should be used to help students acquire accommodation, especially since this is an emergency that has forced some of us to sleep inside libraries and elsewhere as we are without accommodation," said Lerato Mkhathi, a Sasco student.
Siyabonga Mbolekwa said students with outstanding fees are still yet to be registered weeks into the academic calendar.
"We have thousands of students still yet to be registered. Weeks and months are passing by, and they are forced to remain unregistered. How will they catch up while others are suffering while sleeping in computer labs? This Hardship Fund should be used for those who are suffering," he said.
The university said it had "progressively increased the amount of funding allocated to students", having disbursed over R1.6 billion to 26 161 students last year.
In a statement, the university management conceded that some of the classes were disrupted by students who went from venue to venue around the campus, resulting in a few disruptions in the academic programme for the day.
The protests also saw some of the students who had been locked outside the gates of the Braamfontein campus resulting in incidents of commotion.
"We received reports of the disruption of some lectures on the Braamfontein campuses this morning. Small groups were moving from venue to venue and managed to disrupt some classes. They also made their way onto Empire Road, where they disrupted traffic and the surrounding area. We apologise to the staff and students who were inconvenienced by these actions," the university said.
The university said it will not yield to the demands of a few students who are causing mayhem across its campuses and has vowed to take action against those responsible.
"We cannot be held to ransom by a small group of disruptors, and we now have no choice but to act firmly against those who contravene the university’s rules. The university remains open, and the academic programme continues as scheduled," it said.
The Star