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Police used stun grenades and rubber bullets to disperse approximately 100 protesters outside a Rhodes University graduation ceremony in Makhanda. Thirteen students were arrested during protests against the university's new fee payment protocol, which requires students with outstanding fees to settle debts or provide proof of funding before registration, residence access, or receipt of degree certificates.
Police fired stun grenades and rubber bullets to disperse about 100 protesters outside a Rhodes University graduation ceremony for master’s and doctoral students in Makhanda on Friday morning. 13 students were arrested.
This comes two days after the high court granted the university an interdict against continued protests. The campus was rocked on Tuesday and Wednesday by protests against the university’s new fee payment protocol, under which students would have to pay all their fees, including debt from previous years, by the end of the year to register for the new year. Since the interdict was granted on Wednesday, the university has said that talks with student leaders had been constructive.
In a statement on Friday afternoon, the Student Representative Council described the gathering as‘the interim interdict remains in place and legally binds students to refrain from protest action’.
‘to take into consideration that students are vulnerable and may not understand the extent of the implications of an interdict. Violence is never the answer. ’What the protocol says Under the protocol, students who owe money will not be able to see their results and will only be told whether they qualify for supplementary or aegrotat exams. Graduates who owe money can attend graduation, but they won’t get their degree certificate until the debt is paid.
Their transcripts won’t be sent to other universities. Before they can register for a new year, students in debt must either have NSFAS funding confirmed or get a loan covering the full amount from a lender such as Fundi or StudentHero. Students who can’t get a loan must prove they tried. They must then sign an agreement acknowledging the debt and agreeing to pay it off in instalments.
Apart from students with confirmed NSFAS funding, no student who still owes more than R25,000 after the upfront payment will be allowed into residence. University management told students on Monday that the protocol is part of measures to deal with outstanding student debt and to keep the university financially sustainable in the long term. In 2024, the university said students owed R321-million.
The university also said R43-million of student debt had built up in a single year because of caps on NSFAS funding. Its audited results for 2023 show that the amount it set aside for student debt it did not expect to recover rose from R24-million in 2022 to R91-million. Rhodes is not alone. Universities South Africa recently told Parliament that students owe universities R59-billion.
A memorandum of demands handed over to the university on Tuesday outlines the students’ demands.
‘not against the university’s pursuit of financial sustainability’,Students want a stop to the withholding of July and November results, which students need in order to apply for jobs or further studies, and for transcripts to be provided regardless of debt. They have also asked the university to raise the debt limit for living in residence from R25,000 to R75,000.for students who cannot pay off their debt, under which students owing less than R10,000 would pay 50% upfront, those owing R10,000 to R49,999 would pay 40%, and those owing R50,000 or more would pay 30%.
One student, who relied on NSFAS as an undergraduate, said she feared her debt would keep her out of postgraduate study.she said.
‘Allow me to finish studying. After finishing, release my results so I can go find work,’Students had shut down the campus on Tuesday. In a statement on Wednesday morning, the university said it wasIt said students had blocked staff who prepare meals, clean residences and provide water, and that water tankers could not get onto the campus.
Rhodes University Student Protests Police Intervention Fee Payment Protocol Makhanda
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