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Celebrating Freedom Day
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Powerful women
Perdeby Tuks se amptelike studentekoerant / Official Tuks student newspaper / Kuranta ya baithuti ya semmušo ya Tuks
18April2016
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UP damage-free following student protests MARKO SVICEVIC AND XANDER JANSE VAN RENSBURG Despite estimated damages of over R300 million caused to universities during the recent 2015/2016 protests, UP has emerged as one of only five universities in the country that has suffered little to no damage to property. In a response to questions by the Democratic Alliance, Minister of Higher Education and Training Dr Blade Nzimande said that a total of 14 universities had submitted damage reports to the Department of Higher Education and Training. He further added that universities had not yet confirmed from which university budgets the damages would be recovered from, adding that certain damages would be covered by insurance claims. This follows a briefing Nzimande held in January saying that South Africa could no longer afford any more damage to its universities. Appealing to protesting students, Nzimande urged a halt to the addition of unnecessary expenses so that funds could be better spent on building the education system. At the time, Nzimande revealed the government’s plan to shuffle its budget in order to cover the estimated R150 million in damages done to universities’ infrastructures. Since then this amount has more than doubled, with North-West University suffering R151 million in damages to its property alone. The University of KwaZulu-Natal estimated its damage to property at R82 million, with the University of the Western Cape’s damage amounting to roughly R46 million. On 13 April Nzimande was quoted
by News24 as saying, “It cannot be acceptable that student protests are resulting in violence and destruction of the universities’ property that belongs to the public of South Africa and future generations to come.” Nzimande added that the department would work with law enforcement agencies to strengthen security at university campuses to prevent any further damage. The extent of damages at Unisa, Central University of Technology, Durban University of Technology and the University of Fort Hare are yet to be quantified. According to the director of UP’s Department of Security Services, Colin Fouché, relationship management during the recent protests was a key contributor in avoiding any damage at UP. Fouché thanked those involved for their “high morale and well-disciplined behaviour” and for the cooperation and fruitful engagement on student matters from all parties involved. UP’s Registrar Prof. Niek Grové said that UP was able to manage the relationship with student groups behind the Fees Must Fall protests “in a manner that put the interest of the University first and resulted in minimal damage to property and/or threat to people”. “Through ongoing communication between the university management and student leaders, it was possible to avoid incidences of violence and damage to property,” said Grové. Grové expressed UP management’s appreciation for the responsible role played by UP students and student leaders. Grové also said that during the 2016 protests, a more volatile situation was present and although some damage was recorded, it was possible to curtail the damage by the
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Image: Xander Janse van Rensburg.
Damage costs per university Cape Peninsula University of Technology
R689 850
North West University
R151 000 000
Rhodes University
R250 000
Tshwane University of Technology
R5 073 748
University of Cape Town
R3 200 000
University of Johannesburg
R345 000
University of KwaZulu-Natal
R82 000 000
University of Limpopo
R1 786 295
University of Stellenbosch
R352 000
University of the Free State
R2 800 000
University of the Western Cape
R46 544 446
University of the Witwatersrand
R1 410 223
University of Zululand
R4 500 000
Walter Sisulu University
R351 287
physical closure of UP campuses. In a statement by the SRC, it said that the 2016 SRC takes pride in the little to no damage done during the protests, citing the high discipline from UP students and the openness
to engagement and right to peaceful protests as reasons. The SRC also added that it hopes that the same approach is followed in tackling similar issues which may arise in the year.
Milkshakes in Pretoria
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