General Assembly postponed

7 October 2016 - Wits University

Urgent announcement from the Statement from the Senior Executive Team (08:30):

It is with deep regret that we announce the postponement of the General Assembly that was to be held today.

This week, we suspended the academic programme and dedicated all our resources towards building a consensus within the University community in order to be able to resume the academic programme on Monday. We had reached consensus with all University constituencies including Council, Senate, Convocation, labour and staff, but not with the protesting students.

Despite all our attempts and the energetic engagement of former Black Student Society and SRC leaders, the mediation process with the protesting students was unsuccessful.

A congregation of the General Assembly is called when the University community has reached consensus on a particular issue. In this case, there has been no consensus from all constituencies and no agreement from the protesting students that the academic programme will continue on Monday.

The protesting students effectively want the General Assembly and the march to the Constitutional Court to continue, without committing that the academic programme will commence on Monday, as previously promised.

One of the latest demands of the protesting students is that Wits and all other universities should be shut down until government agrees to free education.

In addition, there has been no agreement from the protesting students on the format of the General Assembly. They are seeking direct engagement from the floor. Our concern in this regard is that it may create unnecessary tension between students themselves and other stakeholders, raising security risks and serving as a symbol of disunity for the University.

There is also a risk that the safety and security of those attending the General Assembly today cannot be guaranteed.

We will postpone the General Assembly until consensus is reached and the conditions for such an Assembly are met. We remain committed to the pledge and the march, and should conditions enable this, we would be happy to proceed.

The University has dedicated many resources in preparation for this major event, including negotiating the pledge that was to be read out today, ensuring the availability of key role-players, and losing out on another week of lectures.

We thank the mediators for their time, their patience and their insight in their attempts to reach consensus on a matter of national importance. They spent countless hours trying to obtain consensus from all constituencies this week.

A Council meeting will be called this weekend after which a way forward for the University will be determined. We regret any convenience caused.

Update:

Update from the Senior Executive Team (15:30)

7 October 2016 - Wits University

Statement from SET to clarify the chain of events as they occurred today:

In the early hours of this morning, we learnt from the mediators that the protesting students did not agree to thedraft pledge that was circulated yesterday. We further learnt that the students had shifted the goalposts and had a new set of demands. The new demands indicated that the protesting students wanted the University, and all other higher education institutions to remain closed until government gave everyone free education. 

Following discussions with the representatives of various constituencies within the University, the Senior Executive Team made the decision to postpone the General Assembly until consensus on the pledge was reached. Further, there were many safety and security risks associated with today’s event. This decision was taken just before 08:30 this morning and staff and students were alerted to it. A media conference was held at 09:00. The students subsequently held their own press conferences and events throughout the day. 

We are willing to engage and work with student leaders, mediators and organisations to break the current impasse. 

Way forward 

The Senior Executive Team remains committed to completing the 2016 academic year. The Council of the University will meet this weekend and direction on a way forward for the remainder of the year will be provided on Sunday morning.

Text of the draft pledge:

UNIVERSITY PLEDGE ON ACCESS TO HIGHER EDUCATION: DECLARATION BY THE CHANCELLOR ON FRIDAY, 7 OCTOBER 2016

The University of the Witwatersrand holds General Assemblies at crucial times in South Africa’s history. We are gathered here today in order to present a united University position with the aim of contributing to resolving South Africa’s ongoing higher education crisis.

The Wits community agrees that free, fully funded, quality, decolonised higher education is possible. We are committed to finding effective measures to achieve this goal. South African education, including higher education, is in a systemic crisis. It is a crisis that is born of our colonial and apartheid history, but has been exacerbated by poor policy choices in the post-apartheid era. Since 1994, South Africa has been growing its higher education system, expanding the student base from 420 000 to just over one million.

Yet the per capita subsidy for higher education has declined in real terms. This has forced universities to increase fees in an effort to maintain quality. The net effect has been to price higher education outside of the hands of ordinary South Africans. This is a systemic challenge that has to be addressed, in part because it will enable us to heal our fundamental divides, including the poverty and inequality of our society.

Education and higher education is one mechanism through which to draw individuals, families and communities out of the poverty trap, and to provide people with opportunities to fully participate in society and the economy. It is a basis on which to heal and create an inclusive society.

The quest to enable access to universities for all of our students is a noble cause. The University of the Witwatersrand therefore pledges our support for the goal of free, fully funded, quality, decolonized higher education. We pledge to approach government with a united voice for the realisation of this goal.

We pledge to deploy our intellectual resources towards finding the best solutions. We are also prepared to support peaceful advocacy activities in this regard. Ultimately, our efforts will be part of creating a new educational pact for South Africa that will be premised on a single principle: No student should be prevented from continuing and completing their studies because of a lack of finance.

Issued by Wits University, 7 October 2016