On the 17th of February 2023, the University of Cape Town (UCT) announced the issue of an interdict against protest action that had begun to disrupt students’ abilities to access UCT campuses and lectures.
Following that, it seemed that the Student Representative Council’s (SRC’s) protest action had begun to slow although meetings were continuing to be held. However, on Tuesday, the 7th of March, the SRC issued an update to the UCT student body regarding ongoing conversations between themselves and Council.
In the statement, they mentioned the following:
[On] the evening of the 6th [of] March 2023, the SRC engaged in a 5-hour meeting with Council in which the proposal to lift fee blocks was not accepted.
It was then that the SRC announced a mass meeting which was aimed towards peacefully demonstrating their rejection of this outcome. Subsequent demonstrations followed this until the UCT Executive body resolved to have the South African Police Service (SAPS) intervene on “acts of disruption” that went against the terms of the interdict.
Following continued disagreement between the SRC and the UCT Executive Body, the SRC staged a protest to be held on UCT’s Lower and Middle Campuses on Friday, the 10th of March. However, the protest which was said to be peaceful, was met with forceful action by the Western Cape SAPS.
Chaos ensued as students who were not part of the protests were instructed to remain on Middle campus by their lecturers and the Dean of the Law faculty. This lead to this students becoming involved in the scuffles between the protesters and the police. Police were trying to disperse students who had previously been instructed by the university staff not to disperse. It was claimed by students that the doors to the building had even been locked preventing them from leaving.
In the SRC statement issued to the UCT student body regarding the matter, the student leaders claimed the University “resorted to using force through police on students who were instructed by the Dean of Law to remain in the Kramer building, threatening them with their tests.”
The statement also lays claim that the police used stun guns against protestors, and proceeded to trample over them. Furthermore, in the midst of the conflict, the SRC have also claimed racial targeting, saying the following:
We note the racist actions by the police who put up a barricade around white students whilst using force on students of colour. They further went on to allow white students back into the building while students of colour were met with force when they even attempted to get their bags back from the building they were instructed to remain in by the Dean of Law.
According to live updates from UCT’s Varsity News, two students have allegedly been arrested and taken to Rondebosch Police Station, whilst another two students have allegedly been injured.
Protests subsequently moved to UCT’s Upper Campus, where protestors are alleged to have started demanding the removal of the Acting Vice-Chancellor, Sue Harrison. As of the afternoon of Friday, the 10th of March, protests continue to move between campuses as the protest crowd continues to grow.
Careers Portal has asked the UCT spokesperson for comment which will be added to this story once it has been received.
