UCT in fees shutdown: Campus registration chaos
BLOCKED: UCT students barricade entrance roads after those with debts were not allowed to register. Picture: Armand Hough/ANA
University of Cape Town students blocked every entrance of the institution in a peaceful protest over fees yesterday.
UCT has blocked the registration of all students who owe more than R10 000.
512 students are still to be registered.
On Wednesday groups of students formed barricades at entrances, and some had placards which read “Fees Must Fall”, “Accommodation is Land” and “No student left behind”.
Student Representative Council acting president Siya Plaatjie says they will only stop when they receive “positive feedback” from the institution.
“This was an effort to halt the academic proceedings which are underway, this is because a lot of students have been excluded by way of fee blocks, and those whose registration is pending, so there is an administration backlog.
“We are saying to the university up until the time where all the students have access to academic material, classes should be postponed so that no student is left behind.
“We have given our demands to the VC (Vice Chancellor) and we are waiting for the response.”
The students have called for the classes to be postponed until next Monday.
UCT Vice Chancellor, Professor Mamokgethi Phakeng, said she was disappointed by the students’ action.
In a statement she said: “It is deeply disappointing that, yesterday morning, the Students’ Representative Council (SRC) has chosen to interfere with access control and the UCT shuttle service, disrupting some aspects of the academic programme.
“It is regrettable that, because of these interruptions, a number of students were prevented from access to classes and other facilities.
“Over the past few days, we have been in continual communication with the SRC, providing them with updates on progress in completing the registration process for the new academic year.
“We have explained that the delays in completing registration have been caused by a number of factors, including the unprecedented numbers of students seeking personal curriculum advice after the disruptions of the past two years, and the need for students to provide outstanding information that is required for their registrations...
“We have asked each Faculty to ensure that access to Vula is open to all students, whether or not their registration is complete, so that they are not disadvantaged.
“As of today a total of 512 student registrations were still being processed.
“Of these, 122 were new submissions, so delayed registration cases still outstanding amounted to 441.”
She said “many” of these outstanding registrations were to be completed by last night.
“The threshold for the fee block for students with outstanding debt has been raised from R1000 to R10 000 and the grace period for appeals against exclusion for fee debt has been extended to 31 March.”