Despite the call by the management of the University of Venda for students to return to campus after being sent home a week ago, the students have vowed that they will not go back until they have all received their NSFAS allowances.
Students at this university embarked on violent protests after the non-payment of their residence, book, food and transport fees by NSFAS two weeks ago.
After unsuccessful attempts by the management and the student parliament to resolve the issue, the university sent all the students home, but the move was met with violent protests and students' refusing to leave campus.
The university was forced to hire a private security company, which was later blamed for the harassment of students. Many students were injured during standoffs between them and the police and the private security company. The protests also affected the nearby Marude Secondary School, where learners could not attend classes for two weeks.
Last week, after NSFAS had paid out many of the affected students' fees, the university issued a circular calling on the students to report for classes on Monday. Instead of going to class, the students held a mass meeting, which was also attended by management. During the meeting, the students decided not to go back to classes as some of them had not yet received their allowances.
They decided to go on a peaceful protest until all their grievances had been attended to. Immediately after the meeting, some disgruntled students barricaded the road leading to the campus, preventing staff from conducting their day-to-day duties.
Univen deputy SRC president Mr Salman Madina Patel confirmed that classes have been suspended until further notice. He said even though the classes had been suspended, university staff members would have access to campus. "Our students may demonstrate their rightful needs through a peaceful protest action the SRC condemn violent protests which will be violent. We are academics and not criminals, therefore we must always refrain from all types of criminal conducts," he said.
He said that they were happy that NSFAS had sent a delegation from Cape Town to ensure that the outstanding allowances of students be loaded quickly.
Univen spokesperson Mr Takalani Dzaga said the university and NSFAS were doing all they could to resolve the issue speedily. "We are having NSFAS personnel here on campus and we are hopeful in two days' time all the students will have their outstanding payments," he said.
Dzaga further indicated that the road leading to the campus that had been barricaded had been cleared and that staff were working as usual in assisting the students.