Wits has released a statement stating that the rumours are false, as only less than 0.3% of students have deregistered since the beginning of 2020. 

These stats are lower than those of the 2019 academic year.

Between 23 March 2019 and 18 May 2019, Wits received 208 requests from students who wanted to deregister. This is higher than the 118 students who have deregistered in 2020 during the same period.

Wits is aware that students deregister for different reasons such as: transferring to different universities, personal issues, a change in career paths, health issues, a gap year and many other reasons. 

The university encourages students who are not coping to make use of the university's support structures before deregistering. Students can speak to their lecturers or make use of the university's counselling and Careers Development Unit.

The university has put measures in place to help students who are struggling to cope with online learning. These measures will only come into effect contact lectures begin again.