Africa-Press – South-Africa. Exams are under way at the University of Cape Town (UCT), but students say they feel “uneasy” after a group of protesters disrupted the start of exams earlier this week.
“On Monday, a group of individuals who are neither employees nor students of the University of Cape Town disrupted exams on UCT’s upper campus. UCT condemns these actions in the strongest possible terms,” the university tweeted.
It reported cases of malicious damage to property and trespassing to the police.
Police spokesperson Captain FC Van Wyk said Rondebosch police were investigating intimidation, malicious damage to property and trespassing cases.
“A 37-year-old suspect was arrested and will appear in the Wynberg Magistrate’s Court on Wednesday on the mentioned charges,” said Van Wyk.
Group disrupts UCT exam session by pulling papers off students’ desks
Meanwhile, students told News24 that the recent disruption of exams was “worrying”.
Carlin Adonis said that even though exams were disrupted abruptly, she felt “unsettled”.
“Random protesting can be quite stressful, especially when you are busy with mid-year exams. I really do hope UCT beefs up security for us,” she said.
Lyle Hardenburg said that since the incident occurred, he noticed more security at the campus.
“I saw quite a lot more security on Monday afternoon, I think that was quite a bold move from the university because we don’t know if more protests could’ve erupted during the week,” he added.
UCT spokesperson Elijah Moholola said that exams had since proceeded without any further disruptions.
“UCT’s Campus Protection Services (CPS) secured all exam venues on upper campus, and exams that had been scheduled for the remainder of Monday, proceeded as planned. The university will be on heightened alert for any trespassers attempting to come onto campus with ill intent,” he said.
Stellenbosch student says he will forgive suspended peer who urinated on his belongings
“The university has been in contact with its partners at the Groote Schuur Community Improvement District NPC (GSCID) to ensure that they continue with their designated mandate of providing safety and security in the public spaces and areas surrounding UCT, while CPS will similarly monitor UCT’s campuses and continue with their focus on campuses’ safety and security services.”
Student representative council (SRC) vice-president Siya Plaatjie advised the university to halt examinations for the sake of exam integrity and safety.
“The university has faced workers issues dating back to the fees must fall movement, where the institution committed to insourcing all its staff. That is something that has unfortunately not been fully done as many catering, cleaning and security staff remain on temporary/casual contracts.
Impact
“This has been exasperated by the current shortage of staff experienced by these departments from the impact of Covid-19 on its personnel. Casual or outsourced workers continue to be overlooked when such employment opportunities arise in the departments, with some facing the possibility of retrenchment,” Plaatjie added.
UCT said those who had disrupted the exams were not employed by the university.
News24 previously reported that disruption of exams was driven by workers demanding permanent jobs, instead of constant temporary postings.
The SRC was not involved in the disruption, but said that it stood in solidarity with the workers.
Plaatjie said the university had opened several posts.
The temporary workers knew how to do the relevant jobs, she said, but were being overlooked in favour of outsiders being brought in.
For More News And Analysis About South-Africa Follow Africa-Press
