Johannesburg - The Wits University executive management has suspended SRC president Aphiwe Mnyamana, who, in the past week, has led the student protest over lack of accommodation and financial exclusion.
His suspension stems from his non-appearance before a suspension hearing on March 6, 2023.
This comes just a day after more than 200 striking Wits University students marched to the house of the university’s vice-chancellor, Zeblon Vilakazi, following failed talks between the students and the institution over the weekend.
On Monday, the university’s student representative council (SRC) announced it had received legal support from Mabuza Attorneys, led by advocate Dali Mpofu, who will be representing their members against the institution, which has taken some of the student leaders to court.
However, in what looks like a retaliation effort, the university management confirmed on Monday that they had suspended Mnyamana for having disrupted some of the lectures during the week-long protest action.
Last week, the university suspended several students for their role in the recent protests but gave them an opportunity to make representations.
According to university spokesperson Shirona Patel, Mnyamana failed to appear at his hearing on Monday despite ample opportunity to do so.
"The allegations against him are of a serious nature and relate to conduct that infringed on the rights of others, resulted in damage to property, and resulted in the intimidation of members of the university community, among other things," she said.
His suspension means that Mnyamana will not be allowed on campus or to participate in university activities.
He will also not be allowed to engage in conduct that constitutes "student privileges", Patel said.
"He will not be allowed to stay in Wits’ residences until the legal process is finalised. We will allow the legal process to now take its course."
In their own statement, the SRC confirmed that its president had been suspended, saying the university management has singled him out to further entrench its intimidation and personal attacks against student leadership.
"This comes as a form of trying to silence the SRC into trying to raise just and fair issues that affect student affairs around registration and accommodation. We would like to clarify the ‘as per usual Wits University propaganda’ that the president was given adequate time to appear, and he neglected it even after it was extended," the SRC said.
The student body says Mnyamana only received his letter of notice less than two hours before he was due to appear before the disciplinary committee on the same day he was suspended, on Monday, adding that he communicated his non-availability.
"The university noted its response on or about 12:10 and further postponed the meeting for 17:00 online. The president responded at about 15:50 on the same day, explaining his non-availability due to circumstances beyond his control and requested to meet the following day," the SRC said.
"This alone should show that the president did not neglect or ignore the notice he was served with and, furthermore, that he was even willing to comply with the notice," the SRC added.
The Star