Wits students on hunger strike reject university’s latest registration policy changes
Now in its eleventh day, the hunger strike has seen some participants needing medical care as tensions rise on campus.
A handful of Wits university students with historical debt have gone on a hunger strike. Picture facebook.com/Wits University
JOHANNESBURG - Wits University students on a hunger strike are standing firm in their fight against financial exclusion, rejecting the university’s latest registration policy changes.
Now in its eleventh day, the hunger strike has seen some participants needing medical care as tensions rise on campus.
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The protesters, backed by the Student Representative Council (SRC), are demanding that all unregistered students must register, regardless of their historic debt.
On Friday, university management made a concession allowing undergraduate students owing less than R150,000 to sign up for the upcoming semester – a significant change from the previous R15,000 limit.
On Monday, Deputy Minister of Higher Education Buti Manamela is set to visit the institution with the aim of ensuring that it is prepared for the 2025 academic year and identifying areas that need improvement.
Feziwe Ndwayana spoke on behalf of the students: “We have been informed that the deputy minister will be on campus, and there’s been a commitment from academic staff to make sure that he has a meeting with us because we have seen that the institution is intentionally avoiding us - intentionally not talking to us.”