Demonstrations against increased registration and tuition fees are expected to continue at the Cape Peninsula University of Technology.
|||Demonstrations against increased registration and tuition fees are expected to continue on Wednesday at the Cape Peninsula University of Technology.
Protesters at the Cape Town campus who refused to disperse on Tuesday, were pepper-sprayed by security guards, dubbed “red jackets” for their distinctive uniforms.
A Worcester woman, Judy Bikani, who was at the university to register, collapsed and was rushed to hospital in an ambulance.
The guards also reportedly used a stun gun on one of the protesters.
Students plan to continue their demonstration indefinitely and are expected to hand over a memorandum of demands on Thursday.
The SA Students Congress (Sasco), leading the demonstrations with other student organisations, raised concerns, including:
* Class fees and residence fees to increase by 11 percent this year.
* A registration fee of R5 000, up from R3 400 last year, for residence students.
* A registration fee of R3 500, up from R2 400 last year, for non-residence students.
Students and parents had gathered in the outside amphitheatre for a welcoming address which was interrupted by a group of about 50 protesting students, affiliated with Sasco.
First-year graphic design student Nichole Liederman said she had been listening to the opening address when she noticed a group of people approach, singing songs.
“The security guards tried to prevent them from coming in. But they went around and they were standing right in front of us. We had to move back.” Liederman said she hadn’t felt threatened but noticed a tense atmosphere.
She said security guards had pepper-sprayed the group after they refused to move away from the crowd.
“They got out of control. We could smell the pepper spray and they just ran away.”
The campus was quiet when the Cape Times arrived.
Students could be seen registering for their courses.
Those questioned said they hadn’t seen what had happened.
At about noon, a group of about 50 students arrived from the Bellville campus.
Mthobeli Mankayi, chairman of education at the Bellville campus, said they had travelled to the city campus to ensure they were heard.
He said members would not be allowed to vandalise property and would not prevent other students from registering. The group of protesters then made their way around the campus and there were a number of tense moments with security guards, but no further clashes.
Sasco provincial secretary Monwabisi Luthuli said it was unreasonable for the university to expect students to pay the “absurd” registration fees.
Luthuli said students were also displeased that their concerns from last year had not been addressed.
Scores of students protested at the Cape Town and Granger Bay campuses in May last year for at least three days, causing mid-year exams to be postponed.
Their demands included that fees not be increased this year, that registration fees be capped at R2 200, that residences be properly maintained, that libraries stay open until midnight and that more printers and computers be made available. Luthuli said it was “unreasonable of the university to increase fees while these issues had yet to be addressed”.
He also said that students were not consulted about the decision to increase fees.
University spokesman Thami Nkwanyane said its council had made the decision to increase fees after a number of meetings with student leadership. “These fee increases were a necessary measure, due to the ever-rising costs of operating the institution at an optimum level. We have consulted the student leadership since April 2011 and explained the reasons why we require the increases mentioned above.”
Cape Town Central police spokesman Ezra October said officers had been on the scene to ensure there were no further disruptions. He said Bikani, the student who had been transported to hospital, had suffered a panic attack. - Cape Times
michelle.jones@inl.co.za