Africa-Press – South-Africa. Wits University in Johannesburg has suspended its student representative council (SRC) president, Aphiwe Mnyamana, amid an ongoing student protest.
The suspension came after Mnyamana allegedly failed to appear at a suspension hearing on Monday.
“The allegations against him are of a serious nature and relate to conduct that infringed on the rights of others, resulted in damage to property and the intimidation of members of the university community, among other things,” Wits University said in a statement.
Mnyamana would not be allowed to access any of Wits’ precincts and residences and could not participate in university activities and engage in conduct that constitutes “student privileges” until the legal process was finalised, the university added.
“We will allow the legal process to now take its course.”
In a tweet, Mnyamana said he noted the suspension and was awaiting instructions from the SRC’s legal advisor, advocate Dali Mpofu.
He said:
In a statement, the SRC said it had reached out to Gauteng Premier Panyaza Lesufi to mediate in the negotiations. It said Wits continued “to show utter disrespect and purely nonchalant demeanour to the harsh realities students are currently facing”.
The SRC said it had de-escalated the protest action on campus on Monday, but was met with “absolute aggression”. It added that students were subjected to “physical assault and pepper spray”.
Over the weekend, the SRC rejected several of the university’s concessions to their demands.
On Sunday, around 200 students marched to the institution’s vice-chancellor’s home and allegedly threatened to set it alight.
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