Classes were disrupted at the Durban University of Technology by students on Monday morning, as thousands of them decided to protest by walking off campus. This protest, is against the non-payment of meal allowances this semester.
During the weekend a graphic calling for #ShutDownDut was seen being circulated on social media.
Students were reportedly moving from classroom to classroom, forcing their fellow students to participate in the protest. The students are demanding that their meal allowances be paid to them. Student allowances are popularly referred to as ‘S-Bux’. So far, only a few students have received their S-Bux.
“We are hungry,” a student protestor told the Daily News.
A Daily News photographer and reporter were threatened with violence by protesting students who did not want pictures taken.
The students have been refrained from disrupting lectures saying they were entering a critical period in the academic calendar.
Nxumalo said the SRC met with DUT Student Services to address outstanding S-Bux related matters on Friday and they had agreed on the path to be followed.
“We have also noted what looks like a statement from the SRC, making all sorts of allegations about a number of things. At this point, we will not reply to that statement as we have not independently verified its origin. There is a second meeting arranged for Monday 17 September 2018, to finalise the approach for assisting students who are still in need of support, after the SRC forwarded their agreement late on Friday afternoon, to go ahead with the relief assistance,” he said.
“DUT Management will release a full statement to University stakeholders once we have met with the SRC and we have discussed all of the issues that they will place on the table.”
Article sourced from Daily News
