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The University of the Witwatersrand will be conducting a poll today regarding the resumption of the university's academic programme.
The poll, taking place between 7am and 4pm, was an opportunity for students and staff to have their voice heard, the university said in a statement.
Students will be sent an SMS this morning to which they will have to reply YES or NO, while staff will be sent a link to a website with details on how to respond.
Wits assured those participating in the poll that it would be anonymous and that it would be audited by SizweNtsalubaGobodo, one of the top five auditing companies in the country.
"It is a poll to gauge the views of students and staff that will enable the university to make better decisions concerning the resumption of academic activities," the statement said.
Students would not have to pay for the SMS but would need at least 30c airtime for it to work. And there were systems in place to ensure no students could vote more than once.
Wits vice-chancellor Adam Habib, who was out of the country when the #FeesMustFall protest turned chaotic at the Wits main campus last week, expressed his shock over violence on campus as well as condemning the disruption of academic activities.
His concerns were mainly around the consequences of violent protests and academic time lost during protests.
“I worry about ‘no free education, no education’. [It] reminds me of the ’80s slogan ‘no education before liberation’ which destroyed a generation,” Habib tweeted at the time.
He strongly condemned the violence that was often synonymous with some of the protests, which have left several campuses with combined costs of more than R400 million in damaged property.
“I also worry about the easy resort to violence. If we do not arrest this, this practice will consolidate and eventually destroy us all,” Habib said.
“There is a need for responsible behaviour lest we destroy our futures. Think of future generations if our universities are destroyed.”
Meanwhile, protesting students were planning to apply for an urgent interdict against the referendum.
Former student representative council president, Mcebo Dlamini, says Advocate Dali Mpofu would represent them.
Dlamini proposed that the university rather call a student assembly or a student parliament where everyone would deliberate, followed by a vote.
“Not a referendum where we will vote online where it could be easily manipulated," Dlamini said.
Dlamini said Mpofu would also assist them in laying charges against the government by the end of this week to implement free higher education immediately.
