Mbali Ntuli DA Youth Leader DA Youth condemns use of tear gas on WSU students I am going to Walter Sisulu University (WSU) tomorrow to address a number of serious problems at that University. The situation is becoming increasingly volatile, with students protesting their forced eviction from the campus. The DA Youth condemns the use of tear gas by police officers to disperse these protests. Democratic Alliance Students’ Organisation (DASO) members at WSU have provided us with this footage, showing a police officer using a tear gas grenade to disperse students protesting peacefully at WSU’s East London campus. Students were protesting against the shutdown of WSU for these past 5 weeks and the forced eviction of students from WSU’s 4 campuses. Because WSU is essentially bankrupt students are being forcefully evicted off campus, with a deadline for all students to be off-campus by tomorrow. The situation at WSU is a disgrace. Many of the students have to travel long distances to get back home, and have no money to do so. Neither WSU nor the Higher Education Department has said anything about reimbursing students for the traveling, alternative accommodation or the potentially lost academic year. Many of the students are poor and simply cannot afford this. I am worried that the situation is growing volatile due to the police’s unneccesary overreaction and university management’s unfair decision to evict students. I will travel to WSU’s Mthatha campus to meet with our DASO structures and other student organisations to discuss the best way forward. We want a good, fair deal for both the workers and the students. Ultimately this is about fixing the financial mess at WSU, and ensuring the ongoing viability of the university. Forcefully evicting the students is not an option. Here are the details for my visit tomorrow: Date: 30 August 2013 Time: 13:00 Venue: AC Jordaan Auditorium, Walter Sisulu University Main Campus, Nelson Mandela Drive, Mthatha youtube/watch?v=VlkO-rGbZ2o&feature=youtu.be
Posted on: Thu, 29 Aug 2013 15:01:24 +0000
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