Wits student registration goes ahead

Wits University registration is going ahead smoothly with the management taking no chances by upping the security presence after students were prevented from registering by protesters on Monday (11/01/2016).

Many guards in helmets have blocked access to The Great Hall which leads to Senate House‚ the site of last year's and this week's protests. Only staff are allowed to enter the hall.

The alternate entrances to Senate House‚ renamed Solomon Mahlangu House‚ remain locked.

About 20 students‚ outnumbered by security guards‚ were singing songs earlier on campus and one wrote a sign: "Habib is a Dragon".

The group call themselves Fees Must Fall and are not connected to the Wits Student Representative Council who are working in their offices.

Nelisiwe Malinga‚ the parent of a first-year-student‚ said she was pleased registration was going ahead. She avoided campus on Monday after other parents warned her it was a "no go zone".

One student‚ who registered today‚ said he was pleased he could do so without paying the registration fee of R9000. Obakeng Sereetsi said: "I am very pleased I could register since I didn't have money. I think by March I will be able to get the money".

Wits pushed back payment of the upfront registration fee until March at request of students who protested in widespread student protests last year.

There are no fee increases this year and government has allocated an addition R6.9 billion to the university sector to help pay off student debt and subsidise Universities who couldn’t raise fees.

The Wits Senior executive team said it respected the rights of protesters as long as they did not interfere with registration.

In a statement issued on Tuesday night‚ it said: "The University cannot allow a small group of students to stop the University’s registration processes and other activities. If we do so‚ we jeopardise the academic year and the futures of many young students who want to learn and prosper. It is important to realise that we cannot destroy the University and make it unsustainable. This will impact more on the poor rather than rich and will reinforce the very inequalities that we are trying to address".