“We won’t eat until all students are registered,” vow Wits hunger strikers

The Wits University students who are on hunger strike say the country cannot go anywhere unless black people have equal access to education. 

The students have vowed to continue their strike until their demands for inclusive education are met.

The strike action, which began on Friday, was sparked by the academic exclusion of some students due to outstanding debt. 

The Wits SRC has since pledged to stand in solidarity with financially struggling students, insisting that the hunger strike will continue until all students are allowed to register, regardless of their outstanding debt.

As the students grew increasingly frail on day four without food, they say they are willing to risk fainting or hospitalisation to ensure that all deserving students gain access to education. 

One of the participating students, Feziwe Ndwayana, emphasised that: “Students cannot go back and be turned away when education is a right and it isn’t a privilege.”

“I’m a mother. I can’t imagine my son coming to university one day and the conditions are still the same,” she added. 

 “It’s 10 years after Fees Must Fall, and things just seem to be getting worse, ” she says. 

With the academic year underway, the students have condemned Wits University’s policy, which allows NSFAS and bursary-funded students to register if they owe less than R130 000, while privately funded students are expected to settle half their debt.

Tensions ran high after the protesting students were removed from an SRC boardroom, where they were camping.

The lighting of incense by the unregistered students during a traditional prayer ceremony sparked the verbal spat.

 

A postgraduate law student participating in the strike, Siviwe Mafuna, has accused the university of religious intolerance. 

“We are Africans. How else should we know how to pray? They called security to forcefully remove us. We are weak and have not been eating. To manhandle us is to try and attack our spirit.”

Mafuna insists that students are willing to face serious health complications and even death to have their calls for inclusive education met. 

“We will not eat until all students are registered, regardless of their historic debt. They thought at some point we will give in. We have not. Now they are using force against us.”

Wits University has meanwhile condemned the protest, describing it as an isolated incident instigated by two former students. 

According to Wits University Spokesperson, Shirona Patel, 95% of students have already been registered.

“The university asked two mature individuals to leave a boardroom today. These individuals are not registered students and they are not members of the SRC but were occupying the SRC’s boardroom,” Patel said.

“The university is doing all that it can to ensure that as many academically talented students who meet the various criteria are registered,” she added.