On Monday morning, several classes were disrupted at the University of the Witwatersrand (Wits) in Johannesburg when a group of students began protesting inside campus. The protesters started disrupting other students who were in the middle of lessons.

Before Monday, both university management and student management seemed to be happy with the standing agreement signed between the parties.

Several students who wished to speak on condition of anonymity for fear of victimisation told Daily Maverick that the agreement signed with university management was only a provisional measure. The students said the protests were triggered by discovering that there are about 500 students who could not settle outstanding fees before the end of the March deadline to do so, and risk being excluded.

A student who was among the protesters told Daily Maverick that students felt betrayed by the country’s political leaders who they said have not done enough to ease the burden of students facing challenges of a financial nature.

The recent protests occurred despite a court order obtained against students during the previous Fees Must Fall protests. As the court order still stands, Monday’s protests by students were in violation of it. Part-time university employees joined the protests in solidarity with striking students.

Some protesters emptied bins and sprayed nonstriking employees with the contents of fire extinguishers to intimidate them. In one of several e-mails to students on Monday, the university said a fire was also started in the Umthombo building.

In an e-mail to all students, the university said the fire was extinguished and they were working at restoring electricity to the building. It described the incident as a criminal matter, and promised to deal decisively with it using all means at its disposal. The university said it had been informed that Monday’s protests were led by individuals, some of whom may not have been Wits staff or students, and that the Wits Student Representative Council was not part of the disruptions.

In the e-mail the university outlined measures that the students should undertake in the event of a disruption. It said students who felt unsafe, intimidated and threatened in any way, or wished to report an incident, should make their way to the nearest Campus Control Office or call Campus Control Emergency.

“The university has asked police to intervene and to arrest these individuals, who are (in) a direct violation of the court order. Additional security has been brought on to campus and all entrances and exit points have been secured. The additional security will be in place until further notice,” the e-mail said.

Other students expressed their frustration at the repeated interruptions to lessons and the learning time lost since the protests started.

A first year commerce, law and management student who asked to remain anonymous said the intimidation and interruption of nonstriking students was a violation of their rights.

“I recognise and respect the right to protest but the problem arises when nonstriking students are forced to abandon lessons. They have the right to strike but that right does not also extend to forcing others to also strike. At the rate we are going, most of us might unfortunately end up failing,” he said.

Another student who spoke of his experience of Monday’s protests said many students were bewildered.

“Nobody knew what was happening, people were confused. Word was that everyone should abandon lessons as striking students were said to be approaching. In my class, one messenger pulled into our class and said he was sent to make us aware that there was a strike and that no one should be in class. What I know for sure is that most classes were cancelled. My classes were cancelled at 10am, having begun at 8am.”

In a statement earlier today, the university criticised striking students and pointed out that their action was in violation of a court order.

“The university management condemns this behaviour which is a direct violation of the court order obtained by the university, and members of campus control have been deployed to stabilise the situation,” the statement read.

Police and university security managed to keep a keen eye on protesters and tried to restore peace.

The situation at the university had returned to calm by late afternoon as students seemed to be going about their normal business.

Strikers said they would proceed and shut down the university if management continued to ignore their financial woes.

“The remaining financial challenges have been dumped on helpless students,” one protester said. DM

Photo by EWN.