Academics condemn bottle-throwing at UCT

After marching on parliament, the protesters entered the emergency senate meeting yesterday afternoon and called on vice-chancellor Max Price to release workers to attend a mass meeting to set their own terms for insourcing rather than accept the terms of a deal struck between UCT and the National Education Health and Allied Workers’ Union (Nehawu). After Price refused, some students threw water bottles at him, after which he was escorted out.

The Black Academic Caucus (BAC), which has been strongly supportive of the student and worker protests over the past few weeks, condemned the “violence that transpired” during yesterday’s meeting.

“Those in attendance were subjected to humiliating, disrespectful, and unruly behaviour by individuals who disrupted the session,” BAC said.

BAC said that allowing people external to the university to participate in “the aggressive disruption of a university process sets a worrying precedent”. BAC added that these acts compromised the progress that has been made over the past year.

“It is imperative that the goals towards transformation be democratic and free of all forms of coercion and intimidation,” said BAC in a statement.

The UCT Academic Union expressed “dismay” at the disruption, condemning “the harassment, violence and accusations of racism levelled against members of the Senate”.

The union that these acts were “unjustified” and “contrary to the openness of debate that we seek to promote at UCT”.

“The AU Executive calls for consequences for the people involved and supports the institution of necessary disciplinary measures.”

In a statement today, more than 100 members of the UCT senate also condemned the incident. “Senate is outraged by these events and condemns this unlawful behaviour in the strongest terms. The office and person of the vice-chancellor has been assaulted and the dignity as well as constitutional rights of Senate and its members have been compromised. Senate supports the executive in every effort to restore law and order to campus, so that the examination process can be completed without disruption, and the academic project can be advanced”, the statement said.

In an email to staff yesterday Buhlungu expressed “disgust at the unruly behaviour of this group” who disrupted the meeting.

“Any form of protest that descends into verbal and physical abuse has no place in our institution and deserves condemnation by all members of the University community,” he wrote.

He said he hoped “those responsible will face steps in terms of the University’s disciplinary processes”.

Smartdryck Abrahams, an administrator for Nehawu at UCT, told GroundUp that no one had approached the union to ask management to release workers.

Abrahams said workers who were not working during the march to parliament yesterday had been encouraged to join as the fight for free education and insourcing was something that Nehawu supported.