Update on protest action

Dear staff and students

On Monday, 16 February 2025, some students embarked on protest action on the University of Cape Town (UCT) campus. The Students’ Representative Council (SRC) subsequently delivered a memorandum of demands to management.

We have, on several occasions, cautioned the SRC against disruptive protests. However, we have repeatedly observed disruptions on campus over the past three days. These include blockage of both university and public roads as well as the disruption of lectures, sports games, study sessions and freedom of movement.

These disruptive actions necessitate a shift in our campus security approach from tolerance to intervention. Going forward, Campus Protection Services (CPS) is authorised to observe, caution and intervene whenever the protest action is considered disruptive or violent. CPS will continue to observe, monitor, inform and tolerate if protest action is considered peaceful.

The SRC has submitted to management a proposal of ‘concessions’ to address fee-related issues based on the amount of debt, which is a blanket approach used over the past four years. Management has considered this proposal and cannot support the continued use of the blanket concessions method.

We have learned from this practice that blanket concessions cultivate a culture of non-payment among certain fee-paying or self-funded students at UCT, who seem to take advantage of measures put in place for financially disadvantaged students. In this regard, we plan to engage with parents and guardians of fee-paying and self-funded students going forward.

We have also learned that some students who graduated from UCT and are now gainfully employed do not always service their debt, after benefitting from blanket concessions. A total of 239 graduates who benefitted from the 2021 concessions owe the university an amount of R30 million and have been handed over to debt collectors.

As the graph below illustrates, student debt at UCT has grown to R864 million. The total debt has doubled since 2021.

Financially vulnerable students include those on financial aid, either through the National Student Financial Aid Scheme (NSFAS) or GAP funding. In 2023, NSFAS introduced an accommodation fee cap of R45 000, exposing the university to a financial risk of R160 million. Due to the university’s general operating budget having costs exceeding income, covering this shortfall was unsustainable. Consequently, in December 2023, management presented to Council a revised Financial Aid Policy to mitigate this risk, and this was approved.

In 2024, management identified financially vulnerable students as a result of the NSFAS accommodation cap and engaged the SRC in order to mitigate this.

As a result, management has already assisted over 2 516 students who fall into our financial aid category (NSFAS, GAP / missing middle) to register. We spent a total budget of R54 million resulting from donations, bursaries and budget reprioritisation.

On Tuesday, 18 February 2025, management had a productive engagement with the SRC, which will culminate in a joint proposal to be presented to Council on Thursday, 20 February 2025. The meeting took into account the data we currently have on students with fee debt above R10 000.

Currently, there are approximately 1 882 South African and permanent resident students (excluding the Graduate School of Business) who remain with 2024 debt and who are unable to register, besides the 2 516 students who already received relief measures.

Of the 1 882 students, 235 were previously funded by NSFAS but were dropped after they failed to reach the 50% pass rate for their modules and/or did not meet the N+1 rule. Since these students were means-tested, they are unlikely to afford payment of their student fees.

There are also 458 students who have partially paid their fees, although their debt is still above the R10 000 threshold. A further 1 189 students did not pay any amount towards their fee accounts. Additionally, there are 114 students who obtained bursaries in 2024, but still carry fee debt from previous years.

Management will continue to engage with the SRC to find common ground, upon which a proposal can be finalised for presentation to Council. In the meantime, we ask all students participating in the protest to refrain from disruptive conduct.

We acknowledge that the current situation has caused uncertainty and disruption for many within our campus community. We are taking the necessary steps to ensure the safety and well-being of our staff and students and are working to resolve this matter as speedily as possible.

While university operations will continue, staff members are reminded to liaise with their line managers for specific work arrangements relating to their departments. You are further reminded that the above arrangements will remain in place until further notice.

With regards to lectures, these will continue in person as far as possible. However, where there is an impact due to the protest action lectures may be moved online. Course convenors will communicate accordingly with students.

The university will continue monitoring the evolving situation and will share updates as and when necessary. We thank the university community for your patience, understanding and cooperation during this period.

Yours sincerely

Professor Mosa Moshabela
Vice-Chancellor

Read previous communications:

• From the UCT Executive
• Campus Announcements