Fort Hare students fear for their future after classes at university are suspended

“The recent event of the classes being suspended is negatively affecting our future and delaying our completion of a degree. With this going on, there’s no certainty for our future at this point academically,” said Retabile Bottoman, a final-year student at the University of Fort Hare.

Daily Maverick spoke to students at the University of Fort Hare following the violent protests that began on Monday, 6 October, when students demanded that the vice-chancellor, Professor Sakhela Buhlungu, step down, and accused management of being illegitimate, governing poorly and ignoring democratic demands.

Read more: University of Fort Hare campuses close amid arson and protests as students call for VC’s resignation

Bottoman, who is studying for a  Bachelor of Administration in Public Administration, said she was interested in understanding the process of South African law-making and wanted to work in government. However, with the suspension of classes at the university, she was concerned that her dream might be delayed.

“It is very difficult to stay patient and calm at this point, as the academic calendar needs restructuring, which means exams might not take place as early as expected.

“Now I am home with no transportation money to even go back to campus. I am a student coming from a disadvantaged background with no parents working; striving for this degree was to elevate my home situation,” said Bottoman.

Buhlungu announced the closure of the university on Wednesday, 8 October after at least six buildings — including the administration block at the Dikeni (formerly Alice) campus and the education building in East London — were set alight in the protests.  The damage is estimated at between R250-million and R500-million.

Final-year student Yongama Gusha, who is pursuing a degree in Library and Information Science, said: “The news about the fire at the admin building is concerning, and I do worry about the potential loss of student records. As a final-year student, I’m anxious about ensuring that my documents and records are safe and accessible when I need them.”

He added that the “subsequent suspension of classes has been quite challenging for me, especially being in my final year, having to submit my research. I am worried about the impact on our academic progress and the potential delay in completing our degrees, as I expected to be done at least by early November.”

Buhlungu ‘not going anywhere’

In an interview with Daily Maverick’s Estelle Ellis, Buhlungu was adamant that “I am not going anywhere. I have a contract with the university, and I am not going until it is done.”

Read more: Fort Hare vice-chancellor says violent campus protests were ‘sponsored’

Student leaders have accused the university’s council and Buhlungu of “secretly extending Buhlungu’s contract”, saying he had reached the retirement age of 65 and should step down.

Buhlungu retorted, “The truth about my contract is this: I got a contract for the first five years. Then it was decided to give me a second term of three years and seven months to get to my retirement. Then the council took another decision to top up my term to make it around five years.”

On Monday, October 13, the chair of Parliament’s Portfolio Committee on Higher Education, Tebogo Letsie, visited the institution to receive a student memorandum. Students’ demands included:

• Student representative council elections must be held by the end of this month;
• There must be no interim SRC;
• Buhlungu must be removed by the end of this week; and
• The university’s council must be dissolved.

Letsie told Daily Maverick, “The university statute indicates that beyond the retirement age of 65, an extension can only be given to that particular senior management [person] for a period not exceeding 12 months. We were told that [the University of Fort Hare council] had extended the vice-chancellor's term by 16 months, which would then violate the same university statute.”

He said the students were within their rights to protest, but condemned the burning of school property.

“On campus, there was a lot of security with very big guns … we did not feel … a campus should look like that. We understand where the university comes from by protecting property, but it looks like a military base,” said Letsie.

Accountability

Letsie there had to be accountability if it were found that there was no backup for student records that were destroyed in the administration building fire.

“I feel for the students. I feel for the convocants of that institution whose records might really be destroyed, but the blame must be put solely on management for sitting for so long with records on paper instead of digitising their records. If that is the case, I think heads must roll; people must be held accountable,” said Letsie.

Letsie said the committee had advised that the minister of higher education and training, Buti Manamela, must appoint an independent assessor to investigate issues at the university.

Manamela has directed the university’s council and management to implement measures for a safe reopening and allow teaching and learning to resume, including temporary online options.

“Students must be able to complete their studies in peace and safety. That is a non-negotiable. The university must ensure that the academic year is not put in jeopardy,” said Manamela.

The Department of Higher Training and Education spokesperson, Matshepo Seedat, said: “The minister’s main preoccupation is ensuring that the academic programme is not put in jeopardy and can resume in the next week in a climate that is safe and secure for students and staff. The university is confident that it will complete the academic year. It will use all possible modalities to achieve this.

“Once a full analysis is completed of the impact of arson, the department will work with [the university] to determine how best to address this almost irreversible damage. Naturally, this will take some time to achieve.”

Daily Maverick sent questions to the University of Fort Hare’s spokesperson, JP Roodt, about the academic recovery timeline, ensuring final-year students meet degree requirements, and whether important student records were lost in the administration building fire. No response had been received by the time of publication.

However, in a statement dated 14 October, the council said it had instructed the management to present clear plans on reopening the university and academic continuity. But as things stand, learning at the university is still suspended. DM