Wits SRC share reasons for their protest
BRAAMFONTEIN – The reasons behind Wits SRC's hunger strike and protest.
Wits SRC speaks out on the universities accommodation and registration crisis.
The stand-off between Wits University and their students began on 1 February 2019 when Wits University’s Student Representative Council (SRC) had called a meeting with the university management. The aim of this meeting was to discuss the challenges in student accommodation and registration of students with historical debt.
According to the SRC, the university’s management had agreed to make certain concessions with the SRC. The disagreement between the two parties began when the SRC found out that the university management had apparently gone against these agreed concessions. The university then sent out a statement to emphasise that they were, in fact, not making these concessions as initially agreed upon.
The #WitsHungerStrike are students calling for their peers to be able to register and have accommodation
They are hungry for success and education!!— Andamangwane Dlamini. (@nd_kyyd) February 5, 2019
This enraged the student body and forced the SRC to take action against the university. On 4 February, the SRC held negotiations with the university which did not return favourable for the students. As a response to the breakdown in negotiations, the SRC decided to occupy offices and shut down the campus.
Wits University responded by deploying private security on campus. The SRC alleged that this deployment was done with the intentions to violate students and continue to victimise and intimidate students. The SRC had also expected that police would be present on campus from 5 February.
Wits PYA SRC led a protest & managed to push Wits to register students who have a debt of R100k or less.
Wits PYA SRC will embark on a hunger strike for students who have no accommodation.
Let’s stand together as students and leave no student behind. #OneStudentOneSASCO pic.twitter.com/GItgopFF97
— SASCO Gauteng (@SASCO_Gauteng) February 5, 2019
The statement from the SRC read, “As the student representatives of this university we are against the brutality that our students are met with when they exercise their democratic right to protest action. When we said we would be the first line of defence for our students, we meant it. Therefore we are now resorting to actively putting our bodies on the line by embarking on a hunger strike. This struggle has still not come to an end, as there are still several students sleeping in libraries and who are academically deserving but unable to register.”
Students patiently waiting for a response from management. #WitsHungerStrike pic.twitter.com/2HOrUHxjQa
— ANCYL Wits (@wits_ancyl) February 5, 2019
The SRC stated that the goal of the hunger strike was to show the university that they are willing to risk their lives in order to restore the dignity of the black child and open up access to institutions of higher learning.
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