Acting vice-chancellor, Professor Sue Harrison wrote to the staff and students of the University of Cape Town (UCT) expressing that South African universities struggled with fee blocks and financial exclusions every year.
The letter stated that the university’s cumulative historic student debt stands at more than R385 million of which more than half this amount accounts for 2022 fees.
Harrison said the objective of the letter was to provide some context around the discussions the UCT executive had with the Students’ Representative Council (SRC) to ensure that as many academically eligible students be able to continue the academic year without interruption and traumatic protests.
The letter comes in response to student protests having escalated on Friday following the institution’s decision not to remove fee blocks for students with outstanding debts.
Also read: Update: Videos of UCT student protest reignited after fee block removal decision
Heavy police presence, barricades and stun grenades were reported throughout the day. Two people were arrested.
During Friday’s mass meeting that took place on campus, students demanded that Harrison leave and began shouting “Sue must fall” and “Sue must go”, as reported by News24.
In the letter, Harrison stressed that “UCT cannot maintain a financially sustainable university under such conditions of financial insecurity” thus the implementation of UCT’s council-approved “fee block” policy is necessary to deliver quality education.
To compensate, the university has increased the level of fee debt at which students can still register from R1000 to R10,000, allowing an extra 3,400 students to register this year, according to Harrison.
“We remain committed to supporting financially vulnerable students through a series of measures that we have communicated previously. As a result, about 4,100 students who started this year with fee blocks have been able to register for the 2023 academic year. UCT has budgeted R355 million for student financial aid in 2023 – more than doubling the allocation over 2022, even though the university is operating on a significant deficit budget for 2023,” she continued.
She also stated that while the UCT council was not in support of lifting the fee block as a blanket concession for academically eligible students, the UCT executive is exploring different measures along with the SRC.
“For instance, we have made a further R5 million available for this purpose on condition that the SRC matched this amount through fundraising efforts supported by the executive. In this way, we can further respond as a community to assist those who are financially challenged,” said Harrison.
She added that the university has also established a new partnership with a private entity resulting in R5 million being made available to clear 2022 debt.
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Picture: @DladlaVezubuhle / Twitter