Historical debt has thousands of postgraduate students facing the possibility of academic exclusion as universities go into a second week of the first semester.
At Wits University, some students have been on hunger strike for almost two weeks due to not having been able to register. Three of them received medical attention on the seventh day.
Activist Fesizwe Ndayanda said she will go on hunger strike for as long as she can until she is allowed to register at the institution. “It was on the seventh day that an ambulance was called because I'm anaemic. That's why I fell ill, and I also have low blood sugar,” she said.
It was on the seventh day that an ambulance was called because I'm anaemic. That's why I fell ill, and I also have low blood sugar
— Activist Fesizwe Ndayanda
“This is all because of the crisis of registration at this university, where poor black students are financially excluded. Our demand has been that we will not eat until all unregistered students are registered, regardless of their debt.”
A student who completed her honours degree last year said she wanted to pursue her master's degree but was not allowed to register as she had not settled her R120,000 debt. “I have not joined the hunger strike myself due to [my] medical conditions. I am very grateful for our leaders who have been starving themselves, it is unbearable to watch them suffering,” said the student, who preferred to remain anonymous.
Wits spokesperson Tiisana Monatisa said there have only ever been “two mature individuals participating in the hunger strike”. She said they each have two qualifications from the university, with one working as a journalist and spokesperson for 10 years.
“The second individual has a BA degree and a postgraduate diploma in governance and is demanding funding to register for an LLB. They are both demanding funding so they can register for a third degree, which is a request the university cannot accede to,” he said.
At Unisa, about 150,000 students face academic exclusion, student representative council spokesperson Nkosinathi Mabilane said.
According to Mabilane, 148,861 students have been temporarily registered until their debts have been settled or they will be academically excluded.
The situation involves self-paying students who have managed to get registration acceptance. The main problem is that the majority of them are returning students with unsettled debt from previous years.
— Nkosinathi Mabilane
“The situation involves self-paying students who have managed to get registration acceptance. The main problem is that the majority of them are returning students with unsettled debt from previous years. This debt has carried over, causing an increase in their registration fees,” he said.
Mabilane said they have requested the university to provide acknowledgment of debt (AOD) forms which students can sign.
“The university has agreed to this but they have set a minimum fee that we find unacceptable. They require students to owe a minimum of R2,000 to R5,000 to be eligible for an AOD, which is not guaranteed and not realistic because the current arrangement is insufficient for many students who have increased debt from last year,” he said.
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