Classes suspended at DUT Durban campuses
DUT said while the suspension of the academic programme in Durban was disappointing, it could not jeopardize the safety and security of all staff and students.
DURBAN University of Technology (DUT) Executive Committee of Senate has suspended the academic programme at all five of its campuses in Durban.
The decision comes in the wake of renewed student protests. In a statement released to the media on Monday, DUT said while the suspension of the academic programme in Durban was disappointing, it could not jeopardize the safety and security of all staff and students.
It said the unacceptable levels of intimidation were not conducive to a learning environment and that threats made by certain members of the SRC had to be taken seriously, especially following the levels of violence witnessed two weeks ago and the challenges faced by its sister Universities.
“Whilst we increased the security presence in Durban today, student protestors still disrupted classes, intimidated staff and students and the protestors violated the rights of others, by publicly issuing threats against members of the DUT community,” said Nduduzo Ndlovu, DUT media communications officer.
On Monday morning, a delegation of Executive and Senior Management met with the SRC to discuss two of the main issues: (i) unblocking of students and (ii) student accommodation challenges.
“This was against the backdrop of the renewed calls made over the weekend by the SRC that classes would not resume until all issues are resolved. The SRC also added the issue of security on our campuses to the agenda, although this was tabled towards the closure of the meeting. The President of the SRC was absent at the meeting which was attended by 13 of the 15 members of the SRC with one leaving before the meeting had concluded.
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In respect of NSFAS funding and students who have been blocked, it was revealed that there was a commitment from NSFAS and DUT to finalise all outstanding queries by Friday, 22 February.
Discussions around student housing saw students raise their dissatisfaction about the Baltimore and Hertine Court residences, Management said it had made application for the Department Higher Education and Training for the total refurbishment of these two residences.
The buildings would cost no less than R50-million to get them fully livable but its funding application had been turned down. As a result, it has been decided that the two buildings will be closed down until funding for renovations can be sourced.
“An urgent Request for Proposals on student accommodation will be issued out this week for service providers to submit their bids, in order to accommodate students that are currently allocated in the two inhabitable residences. Students in these residences will then be moved out to new buildings that will be secured through this process. Given the urgency of the situation, special arrangements will be made to ensure that normal tender process is accelerated. We are hoping to finalize this process before the end of March 2019. “
Security issues were also raised with the SRC demanding that the University terminate its contract with Xcellent Security Company.
They were made aware that the Management had already initiated a process towards the long-term appointment of a service provider. In the mean-time, the current security company has been providing services on a month-to-month basis while procurement processes are being finalized.
In the meantime, management said it would continue to monitor the situation daily and take appropriate decisions.
“We have appealed to the SRC to be readily available as and when they are needed because the problems bedeviling the University require the enthusiastic participation of all stakeholders. We once again remind all staff and students to only access official University announcements via the DUT PinBoard email system (staff) and DUT4life (students) accounts and to view the official statements on the DUT website.”
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