Africa-Press – South-Africa. The University of Cape Town (UCT) has been granted an interim order prohibiting further student protests that disrupt activity on campus or lead to violence.
The Western Cape High Court granted the order on Friday after the university said it could not resume face-to-face learning by the end of the week.
The order affects the student representative council (SRC) and anyone participating, or intending to participate, in unlawful conduct and/or unlawful protest action.
In terms of the order, students are allowed to enter buildings on campus only for “the transaction of university business” such as lectures and tutorials.
The order prevents them from “interrupting or disrupting any lectures, tutorials or similar activities, or preventing the continuation of lectures or any other studying activities”.
The order further bars students from interfering with the operation of the university’s shuttle services and buses. Students are also not allowed to destroy, damage, or deface any of the university’s property, as well as intimidate “any person on the university’s property or intimidate any person seeking to access the university’s properties, including at any of the university’s student residences”.
On Thursday evening, the university sent a circular informing staff and students that the university was in a position to “fully resume its academic project, including the face-to-face teaching and learning programme and research programmes, with effect from Friday”.
It comes after several days of protests marred the start of the academic year at the university, forcing the institution to move classes online. At the centre of the ongoing protests are issues against fee blocks – when a student is blocked from returning to their studies because of outstanding fees – and access to student housing.
The university said on Thursday that it had met with the SRC to discuss the issues to resolve them.
“The university has taken all reasonable measures to ensure that as many academically eligible students as possible receive funding support. This has been difficult to attain, given that UCT is operating on a deficit budget this year; and that the cumulative historic student debt currently stands at R413 million,” it said.
However, the SRC rejected this. “We have repeatedly made it clear that we require that the academic activities be halted until all academically eligible students have registered,” it said.
On Friday, the university said that resuming face-to-face teaching and learning and research programmes was impossible given the “unfortunate actions of some protesting students on Friday morning”.
The university added that management had decided to seek legal assistance.
“Having avoided the undesirable situation of dealing with the protests of this week through legal means, the executive has made it clear that there would be no choice left but to go the legal route should there be any further unlawful acts. The executive, therefore, wishes to assure the campus community that action will be taken to deal with any unlawful acts,” it said.
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