TENSIONS continue to rise on the streets of Braamfontein in Joburg, with Wits students vowing to continue to protest until their grievances are heard.
The students are demanding that those who have outstanding balances be allowed to register, that the cap of R45 000 on residence allowances from Nsfas to be scrapped and that extra financial relief be added to the institution’s hardship funds, among other demands.
It was reported that the protest saw several properties being damaged, shops looted and classes disrupted.
Several students have since been suspended.
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On Thursday, 2 March, SRC president Aphiwe Mnyamana said they would continue to shut down the institution's operations until their demands were met.
According to Mnyamana, the SRC handed a memorandum of demands to the institution at the beginning of January but on 31 January, the institution gave them a negative response.
"They responded to the memorandum saying ‘no…no…no,’ they would not assist. Till today they have not responded to our demands.
"We have had these demands for three months as we now find ourselves in this stage. [The institution] had three months and these demands are not new to them," said Mnyamana.
But in a statement issued by the institutions on Friday, 3 March, Wits dismissed the allegations, calling it "misinformation".
The institution said it has committed R150 million for bursaries and scholarships in 2023 while in 2022 they administered R1,6 billion in financial aid, scholarships and bursaries which helped more than 26 000 students with funding.
The statement said the institution committed R28 million to the Wits Hardship Fund to help qualifying students to register and secure emergency accommodation.
“To date, 503 students have been assisted. Wits also matched the R6 million raised by the SRC rand for rand = R12 million. In total, there is R40 million available to assist students in need, of which about R36 million has already been allocated," read the statement.
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Additionally, the institution said it has allowed students who owe R10 000 or less to register, those whose household income is below R600 000 to apply for registration assistance by paying 50% of the outstanding debt due and by arranging to pay the balance of the debt during the course of the academic year, and finally allowed students who owe R15 000 or less to graduate.
According to the statement, Wits cannot agree to allow students who owe R150 000 and below to register as it amounts to hundreds of millions of rands, which would make the university unsustainable.
While Wits has tried to challenge the shortfall created by the R45 000 Nsfas annual cap, they said they cann't change Nsfas policies.
But the institution said it has accredited private accommodation service providers to accommodate students within the R45 000 cap.
