Africa-Press – South-Africa. Wits University management says it will enter into mediation with the Student Representative Council (SRC) amid ongoing student protests.
The university said the agreement emanated from engagements with the SRC last week.
“The Office of the Dean of Student Affairs will work with the SRC and management to arrange a convenient time and appropriate terms for such a process, as well as to engage a professional mediator in the coming days,” it added on Tuesday.
Comment from the SRC will be added once received.
Wits students have recently been protesting against the exclusion of those who owe the institution.
Among the demands tabled by the SRC was that the university allows students who owe R150 000 or below to register, emergency beds for students who do not have accommodation, and for the university to defer its R10 000 upfront payment for on-campus residences.
In response, the university said it committed R150 million for bursaries and scholarships for the 2023 academic year.
It added it administered R1.6 billion in financial aid, scholarships, and bursaries to more than 26 000 students last year.
On the registration of students who owe R150 000 or less, the university said: “Wits cannot agree to this request as it amounts to hundreds of millions of rand, which would make the university unsustainable.”
It added it allocated 500 additional beds to assist students in need, 350 more than the 150 requested by the SRC.
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