https://www.polity.org.za
Deepening Democracy through Access to Information
Home / News / All News RSS ← Back
Close

Email this article

separate emails by commas, maximum limit of 4 addresses

Sponsored by

Close

Embed Video

1

Majority want lectures to resume at Wits

Majority want lectures to resume at Wits
Photo by Reuters

30th September 2016

By: African News Agency

SAVE THIS ARTICLE      EMAIL THIS ARTICLE

Font size: -+

The majority of students and staff at the Witwatersrand University (Wits) want lectures to resume next week despite violent protests against tuition fee hikes, according to a poll released by the institution on Friday.

The poll conducted on Thursday showed that 77% of respondents wanted lectures to resume, with 23% voting against it. The university said there were 21 730 responses to the poll, with 16 739 voting for lectures to resume, while 4 991 voted “no”.

Advertisement

The students and staff were asked: “Should Wits open on Monday 3 October subject to appropriate security protocols being in place?”

The process was conducted by an auditing company after the Electoral Commission of South Africa (IEC) indicated it would not assist the university in conducting the poll. Students were sent a text and were asked to respond with either a “yes” or a “no” while staff received an email with instructions on how to log in and vote.

Advertisement

An urgent court bid by Wits student leaders on Wednesday to halt the poll failed. The court ruled against the students and indicated that everyone’s voices needed to be heard.

University campuses have been rocked by protests since last year as students continue to demand free higher education. An announcement by Higher Education Minister Blade Nzimande that fee increases for 2017 would be capped at eight percent, as well as exempting vast numbers of students from any increase, nonetheless brought another wave of protests as students demanded no fee increases and that government implement free higher education.

Lectures have been suspended at most universities as the unrest continued.

EMAIL THIS ARTICLE      SAVE THIS ARTICLE

To subscribe email subscriptions@creamermedia.co.za or click here
To advertise email advertising@creamermedia.co.za or click here

Comment Guidelines

About

Polity.org.za is a product of Creamer Media.
www.creamermedia.co.za

Other Creamer Media Products include:
Engineering News
Mining Weekly
Research Channel Africa

Read more

Subscriptions

We offer a variety of subscriptions to our Magazine, Website, PDF Reports and our photo library.

Subscriptions are available via the Creamer Media Store.

View store

Advertise

Advertising on Polity.org.za is an effective way to build and consolidate a company's profile among clients and prospective clients. Email advertising@creamermedia.co.za

View options
Free daily email newsletter Register Now