Publications
Partners
A group of 22 students enrolled at the Central University of Technology (CUT), Free State, are expected to appear in the Bloemfontein Magistrates’ Court on Wednesday, 6 March. This follows their arrest on Monday, during the seemingly endless mayhem relating to the delayed payment of allowance money by the National Student Financial Aid Scheme (NSFAS).
Arrested by the Bloemfontein members of the Public Order Police (POP), the group comprises 16 men and six women.
The mayhem began on Friday, 1 March, and continued until Monday with disgruntled students closing off the university’s gates with debris and burning garbage.
Lt. Col. Thabo Covane, spokesperson for the police in Mangaung, said the culprits had been arrested for violent acts and causing disruption on the premises of the university. He said the disgruntled students closed off the main entrance and road with an assortment of debris, collapsible fences and refuse bins, making the campus nearly impossible to access.
The campus is situated across the Parkweg Police Station.
Covane said the police had acted after receiving a call regarding violent protest by the students. He said a case docket was opened for public violence and contravention of a court order, the Gatherings Act, and the Road Traffic Act.
Seithati Semenokane, spokesperson for the CUT, said the university’s academic programmes were disrupted due to challenges surrounding the payment of NSFAS funding. Even after intervention to resolve the matter, students continued protesting.
“The management has taken immediate and decisive action to resolve the issue and minimise any further impact on our students,” said Semenokane.
The chaotic protest came in the wake of uncertainty still surrounding the cancellation of the contracts awarded to eZaga Holdings for the disbursement of monies to students who had been approved by the bursary schemes. eZaga Holdings was assigned with the paying out of money to all students approved for funding by the NSFAS.
On 20 February, academic programmes at the University of the Free State’s (UFS) Qwaqwa campus were also disrupted by angry students who protested regarding the delayed payment of money. The university stated that students raised concern regarding the negative impact this had on their studies. Matters of grave concern to affected students range from the apparently delayed payment of books and meal allowances by their funders, Funza Lushaka and the NSFAS.
It has seemingly become the norm for university students to embark on violent protests to vent their frustration over delayed payments by the financial scheme.
Evidence thereof are two torched buildings at the UFS’ Qwaqwa campus in 2022 in the wake of protest regarding prior delayed payments of NSFAS monies. Damages to the building reportedly caused the UFS R35 million.
