Fort Hare students‚ SRC locked in mass meeting over fees

Students at the University of Fort Hare have been locked in a mass meeting with the university’s student representative council (SRC) since earlier this morning. They are discussing a way forward after the fees announcement made recently by Higher Education Minister Blade Nzimande. According to SRC deputy president Busisiwe Mashiqi‚ the students met “to give an indication on the way forward” before their leaders meet with the university’s management this afternoon. Mashiqi says after the second meeting they would inform the students of the institution’s response. She says it will be at the second student meeting that they would decide whether to go on strike or not. “The mass meeting is for us to interpret what the minister’s announcement means for the university’s student body‚” she said. Fort Hare spokesman Lizo Phiti was not immediately available for comment. Meanwhile‚ there have been no reported protests at Walter Sisulu University since the minister’s announcement that sparked ructions at universities across the country. — TMG Digital/DispatchLIVE