Publications
Partners
Friday night and Saturday morning turned into a loud and very tense waiting game for the Wits students who demanded an immediate decision on fee increases. S’thembile Cele was there.
*Click on the links to see video of the various events
FRIDAY, 10PM
The lift door opens on to Senate House, the administration block of Wits University. Five middle-aged men get out; so do two women. Five are white. They are the managers and leaders of Wits Council, its highest decision-making body. They look nervous.
About 1 500 to 2 000 students have sung themselves hoarse. In a week of unprecedented protest in the democratic era, students occupied Senate House over three days, bringing the university to a standstill. They blocked off all entrances to the university, denying access to cars. Lectures were suspended for three days.
FRIDAY, EARLY EVENING
Vice-chancellor Adam Habib looks haggard, his grey hair in disarray. He puts his face into his hands at regular intervals. He has been at Senate House with students for almost five hours. Other than leaving to call his wife and for a breath fresh air, he was on the floor with the students for most of the day.
Members of Habib’s office, including deputy vice-chancellor Professor Andrew Crouch, dean of students Dr Pamela Dube and council chairperson Dr Randall Carolissen are seated on tables before students, as if they are in court. They look intimidated by the energetic crowd dancing and singing.
Student leader Mcebo Dlamini, wearing jeans, an ANC T-shirt and the party’s camouflage-type cap, booms through a mike: “Comrades, it is for the first time in the history of universities that all of its important stakeholders have met. We, the students, are here; the vice-chancellor and his team are here. The chairperson of the council is here. These are the children of taxi workers, the unemployed, the deceased. Their only hope is education. These are the children of miners, farm workers and domestic workers. The country and the world are watching. Be leaders. No one is being held hostage. We are here to say no fee increment.”
Dlamini was expelled from the Wits Students’ Representative Council (SRC) on May 4 and dismissed from his position of SRC president by Habib earlier this year for a spate of incidents that allegedly brought the university and his position into disrepute.
This time, the two men sit side by side for about six hours. When students want to take the managers’ chairs away, Dlamini says they should be respected, not feared.
He returned triumphantly to campus on Wednesday, just before noon, capturing the attention of students who had grown restless while waiting for Habib. Students carried him into the Empire Road entrance on their shoulders like a hero before giving him a raised platform to address them.
The mood is brittle. Students had been pepper-sprayed by a jittery private security guard escorting council members. They were angry and wrapped clothes around their faces and threw water bottles at the guards.
Some “comrades” are bleary-eyed, wanting to make their way home. Still, a large group is upbeat and continuing with the struggle song Solomon, which has become their anthem. It is named for Solomon Mahlangu, the legendary member of Umkhonto weSizwe who was executed by the apartheid state when 22 years old.
SATURDAY, MIDNIGHT TO 4.20AM
Carolissen is an executive at the SA Revenue Service, a well-built and no-nonsense guy. Clearly he is used to people listening to him and is frustrated because the remaining students speak above him. He proposes the decision to increase fees be suspended pending a renegotiation with council, and waits along with his colleagues at the venue for students to make a decision.
Students have trickled out, exhausted. Dlamini takes the microphone. “Let us be honest. There is something called strategic retreat. Many people have left.”
Ten students speak in groups of five. There is no consensus about whether to remain at Senate House or suspend protest action until Monday after council has met. One says: “We will never have Habib like we have him now.”
Incoming SRC president Nompendulo Mkhatshwa shouts “Amandla!” Her voice is hoarse. Her leg is in a moon boot, after she agitated an old injury during the marches. She and SRC president Shaeera Kalla are joined (some say displaced) by the Economic Freedom Fighters chairman on campus, Vuyani Pambo, and Dlamini in leading the protest.
Council is called back in from the room they were asked to move to.
An agreement is reached. The fee hike is suspended. Council will meet over the weekend and report back to students on Monday at noon. Students will not face disciplinary action for protesting. The university will remain closed on Monday. Students look on as management signs the contract.
Dlamini starts singing. Students walk up to him and praise his leadership. Buses arrive from the Empire entrance to collect students. The sun is up as they head back to their residences.
