by Olwethu Boso | Oct 12, 2016 | News
Following two days of violent clashes between police and student protesters, Wits university spokesperson, Shirona Patel has confirmed that a total of six petrol bombs have been found on campus since last night.
Three petrol bombs were found on West campus on Wednesday morning. “The bombs were found in a backpack by Raikes Gate,” she said.
Last night two petrol bombs were found outside John Moffatt building and another was in the basement of the architecture building. It was set alight but authorities managed to contain and extinguish the fire.
Campus control called in the SAPS at about 5:30am on Wednesday after they had found the backpack containing the 3 three petrol bombs in a dustbin said SAPS spokesperson, Brigadier Sally de Beer.
“The discovery of petrol bombs on campus is an indicator of people wanting to incite violence,” said de Beer.
De Beer could not confirm what case had been opened but said that it could possibly be of public violence. The police investigation continues.
The university also confirmed that on Tuesday there was a false alarm resulting in students being evacuated after reports surfaced that a bomb had been found on campus – it later turned out to be a fire cracker.
Taps in the Central Block bathrooms were left open overnight which led to flooding in the area.
by Tendani Mulaudzi | Sep 20, 2016 | News
Student who were arrested earlier today as part of the Fees Must Fall protest that took place at Wits University will not be prosecuted for their charges and will be released.
The group of 31, who mostly belong to Men’s Res, are being held at the Hillbrow Police Station as they await their release, which is expected to be at 4pm today.
The protesters were arrested for “contravening a court interdict,” according to the Hillbrow Police Station’s spokesperson Mduduzi Zondo. The court order prevents anyone from obstructing the entering or exiting of any person, “or any of its buildings, facilities, residences, halls, classrooms and the like”.
Vuyani Pambo, a member of the Wits Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF), said that he could not supply the names of the arrested students. However, he could confirm that Koketso Poho, chairperson of the Wits EFF, was part of the group who were arrested and was injured in the process.
“Once all the 31 students were processed, then the dockets were taken to the senior prosecutor for advice to see if they would prosecute on the case,” said Florencia Belvedere, an attorney from Lawyers for Human Rights whom is working on the case.
Belvedere said that the senior prosecutor then agreed not to prosecute and agreed to allow the students to be released.
“The issue remains however whether there is some grounds to carry the court order because today the students are released but tomorrow, they demonstrate again and we could be back here again,” said Belvedere.
by Zanta Nkumane | Sep 19, 2016 | Featured 1
The #FeesMustFall2016 disruptions at Wits to continue until the university declares an official shut down.
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by Lwandile Fikeni | Sep 16, 2016 | News
Sizzlers, a deli shop at the Matrix, was the scene of a protest after the company allegedly fired four worker for eating cheese, rolls and Viennas during their lunch hour.
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by Zanta Nkumane | Sep 15, 2016 | News
Wits University management has until October 1 to accede to the demand by the National Education, Health and Allied Workers’ Union (Nehawu) to remove what the union says is an “offensive” clause in the conditions of employment.
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by Nadia Omar | Sep 9, 2016 | News
A group of students calling themselves Wits Fees Must Fall (FMF) have demanded that vice-chancellor Professor Adam Habib intervenes in the current situation at the University of KwaZulu-Natal (UKZN).
Earlier this week, the group of about 30 students congregated in the Soloman Mahlangu House concourse, dressed in black and holding up posters showing their solidarity with the UKZN students.
The students refused to be identified or photographed, arguing that they did not want to draw attention to themselves. “This is not about us, this is about the students at UKZN who have been subjected to violence and injustice,” said one of the students.
Despite requests for the vice-chancellor to receive their memorandum of demands, the Dean of Student Affairs, Dr Puleng Lenka-Bula, was on hand to meet the students. The memorandum outlined five demands to the vice chancellor in accordance to the positions he holds as an Impact Champion for the United Nation’s #HeForShe campaign and as chairperson of Universities South Africa and convenor of twenty six Vice Chancellors in South Africa.
The memorandum reads: “We demand that in your capacity as an Impact Champion of #HeForShe and chairperson of Universities South Africa, offer an unconditional apology to the victim of rape crime at UKZN as her rape occurs under the ridiculous and unwarranted presence of private security personnel and police on university campuses.”
“…offer an unconditional apology to all women and victims of sexual harassment at the hands of private security personnel and police deployed on university campuses…and offer direct support to the victim of a rape crime that occurred on the UKZN campus,” it further reads.
“Your unconditional support should ensure that a charge of rape has been laid against her perpetrator and that she is mentally and physically supported throughout the entire ordeal of seeing the case to trail,” it says.
Wits FMF also demand Habib institute a process where norms and standards that address gendered violence be adopted across universities and to end the “unwarranted securitisation and militarisation” of campuses across the country.
The students have given Habib five working days to respond to their demands.
The community of students have given the vice chancellor five working days to respond to their memorandum and have also requested that he give daily feedback on his progress in meeting their requirements.
Dr Lenka-Bula denied at interview with Wits Vuvuzela after accepting the memorandum.
Habib is yet to make a public statement regarding the memorandum.
by Tendani Mulaudzi | Aug 30, 2016 | Featured 1
Alumni of Pretoria High School for Girls have openly expressed their support for the young learners who are unhappy with practices of racial discrimination at the school.
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by Mokgethwa Masemola | Aug 22, 2016 | Featured 1
SOLIDARITY: Wits students protest against rape and sexual violence in the 2016 Silent Protest.
Photo: Mokgethwa Masemola
“We believe you!” That is the over-arching message of the silent protest against rape and sexual violence that took place on Wednesday at Wits.
“If you have never been believed. If someone has tried to undermine you saying ‘I have been violated’ and try to question whether it constitutes violation or not, you need to know that the number one aim behind the silent protest is to say ‘we believe you’,” said the Silent Protest project coordinator Limpho Kou.
The Silent Protest has served as a campaign where women, and now men, can speak out about rape and sexual assault.
“This protest creates the conditions where people feel safe and held in order to tell their most closely-guarded secret,” said founding member of the Silent Protest and the Aids Healthcare Foundation’s advocacy manager Larissa Klazinga.
According to Klazinga, the protest was born at Rhodes University in 2006 to support “Khwezi”, the woman who publically accused Jacob Zuma, then deputy president of the ANC, of rape. About 80 young women gathered at Rhodes with Khwezi to speak out against gender-based violence. Zuma was later acquitted of rape in the High Court.
Since then, the protest has spread to other campuses in the country and is now an international movement. The protest also expanded to include men who have been sexually-violated.
In light of recent protests such as #RememberKhwezi, #IAm1in3, #NakedProtest, #RUReferenceList, the silent protest in 2016 “can’t be business as usual, we can’t ignore everything that is happening,” said Kou.
In response to these movements, the silent protest was a week-long campaign this year with documentary screenings, talks and public exhibitions of the female body on campus. The advancement of student protests over the past year has made the organisers of the silent protest question their portrayal of the victim and the significance of silence.
As such, the organisers have also introduced the blowing of whistles on the day of the protest to “introduce a certain level of disruption”, said Kou. Following the #RUReferenceList and #NakedProtest, the 2016 silent protest at Rhodes will focus on disrupting the institution and the powers that be.
“We can’t get away from the fact that there was another silent protest two weeks ago which made the whole nation take stock of who our leader is and where we are as a country,” said Klazinga referring to anti-rape protesters disrupting Zuma’s speech at the Independent Electoral Commission in Pretoria.
The value of the silent protest remains its ability to serve not only as a platform for men and women to break their silence on rape and sexual violence, but also its status as an incubator for activists who have shaped the feminist discourse in the country.
“The women’s movement that we’ve been able to build has begun to build a new kind of a completely different feminism in South Africa and the silent protest is a part of that,” said Klazinga.
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