The Rhodes University SRC declared the commencement of the #RUAsenziNex
peaceful protest on the 15th of March following many institutional issues
faced by Rhodes University students. At the helm of these issues are
National Student Financial Aid Scheme (NSFAS) and the Department of Higher
Education and Training (DHET). The South African Union of Students (SAUS)
declared a shutdown of institutions of higher learning as a means to
address the issues which were at the helm of the movement.
The internal movement can be said to have occurred in three phases:
1. 15 March to 19 March (Peaceful blockading of entrances and virtual
protesting)
2. 23 March (Moving around different departments and virtual protesting)
3. 24 March (Peaceful blockading of entrances and virtual protesting).
There have been successful developments to our demands since the movement began which include but are not limited to:
a) Initially, the University deemed the disbursement of living and learning
allowances as not being feasible. To date, living allowances have been in
the process of being issued out.
b) Emergency accommodation for first time entering students (FTENS) was
extended. This comes after we requested that the University allows FTENS to
reside in their emergency accommodation even after the given 48 hours.
c) We proposed to the University that International Students should receive
data for academic purposes or permits to return to campus. We further
suggested that the University makes use of the annual International Levy to
provide the data. A proposal was also sent to the institution and still
awaiting tangible feedback to this effect. Thus far, International students
have been receiving their permits.
d) The University maintained the position of “no student left behind does
not mean that everyone should start at the same time”. We continue to
disagree with this statement and managed to delay the start of assessments
which counts for marks.
The movement was then halted on the 24th of March, because student
participation in the protest had drastically declined thus hindering the
effectiveness of the protest. Lastly, the movement was halted because of
the limit in how far a “peaceful protest” can go before it becomes
ineffective in achieving its aim. Subsequently, a meeting was held with
Senior Management on the 26th of March to discuss the remainder of the
demands which had not been met.
The following where the outcomes:
Clarity on NSFAS Allowances and Learning Material
The SRC in the initial meeting with Senior Management had requested for
advanced allowance payments to be paid out to students to which they
declined. Developments in the protest then saw the commencement of
allowance disbursements on an advancement basis since the 15th of March and
this has since been happening on a continuing basis. Furthermore, the SRC
requested for the university to pay out book allowances to which they
replied that they would not be able to do due to cash flow reasons.
The university did however assure us that NSFAS in communicating with them
said payments would be made in early April.
FTENS who are still in need of laptops are urged to reach out to Ms. D
Wicks or Ms. N Matiwana on the email addresses d.wicks@ru.ac.za and
n.matiwana@ru.ac.za respectively.
*Defunding of LLB, PGCE and DipAcc *
The SRC requested for the university to articulate the different plans they
had to cater for the programs which had been defunded by NSFAS. Their
response to this was that it was and is not the university’s responsibility
to fund students. They however did say that the university works tirelessly
to attract funding for the different degree offerings at Rhodes University.
To attest to this, the university was able to secure R9.1 million worth of
funding from the BankSeta to cater for degrees which fall within their
scope, one of which is the DipAcc qualification meaning that students under
this qualification have been or will be assisted soon. All LLB students who
had reached out to the SRC for assistance have been cleared to register
with the exception of two extraordinary cases.
The university says that they have not been able to source definitive
funding for LLB and PGCE students but are continuously working on finding
funding. PGCE students who are pursuing scarce skills will be prioritized
for the Funza Lushaka bursary. In the meantime, all other qualifying
students are encouraged to apply for the VC’s guarantee by means of signing
an acknowledgement of debt form and other due diligence which one can find
out about by reaching out to the office of the Vice-Chancellor on
vc@ru.ac.za.
*Registration and the extension of the academic year*
The university explained how they would not be able to accede to
registration extension any further than they had already done (moving
registration from the 19th to the 26th). They explained that a concession
had been made to ensure that no assessments that would count towards the
class mark would be due for submission before the 26th of March.
Furthermore, the university did assure us that:
• Departments have factored into their programs students who would be
joining their courses late for one reason or another and have put in place
academic support mechanisms for such students.
• Students can apply for LOAs and that departments will do their best of
cater for these.
The university explained that they would not be able to register all
students for free and said that the waiving of the late registration fee
would only be applicable in exceptional cases that will be identified on a
case by case basis. Lastly, the university further stated that it would not
be fair for them to delay the start of the academic year because statistics
proved that majority of the student body was registered and are in actual
fact continuing with the academic year. Upon receipt of statistics, it was
said that just over 7500 students had registered for the academic year.
*NSFAS Appeals *
The SRC attempted to negotiate with senior management to allow for a
reappeals process for students who felt dissatisfied with the outcome of
their financial appeal to which the university declined stating that the
decision laid in the hands of NSFAS and that the institution had no power
in influencing a decision made by NSFAS. Furthermore, the university
acknowledged that students who had written aegrotat and supplementary exams
had not yet received the outcome to their appeals and assured us that
students would receive these outcomes shortly.
*International Students: Data, Permits and Payment Plan. *
The SRC requested for international students to be given permits to return
to campus and for data to be provided to which senior management replied
and said that they were in the process of replying to permit applications.
At the time of the meeting, 227 permits had been sent out.
They further went on to say that if there are international students who
are unable to return to campus, they would be allowed to purchase their own
data to the value of R130 (this is what the university spends on local data
deals) and have the receipts sent to the university to have this credited
to their student account. We then requested for senior management to
release further communication on the above mentioned.
International students who have not yet received their permits and have not
applied but would like to return back to campus should reach out to the
university by emailing the international office on international@ru.ac.za.
The SRC tried to negotiate for a reduced payment plan for international
students to which they declined citing policy from Home Affairs where
international students guarantee that they are able to pay the fees of the
proposed institution.
In closing, although we were only able to reach consensus on some demands,
they were all recognised and acknowledged therefore giving us means to hold
the university accountable as we continue to engage with management on
addressing issues faced by students. We would like to extend our sincerest
gratitude to SASCO, EFFSC and members of the student body for working with
the SRC during the protest. It is our hope that we continue to nurture the
spirit of collaborative leadership to ensure a student-centric environment.
Issued 30 March 2021.
Contact: Secretary-General, Mitchelle Makokove.
e: srcsg@ru.ac.za , t: +27 (0) 46 603 7083