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Protests continue at UCT and Wits as students unite against housing and financial exclusion challenges

Protests continue at UCT and Wits as students unite against housing and financial exclusion challenges
University of Witwatersrand students demonstrate on 20 February..(Photo: Supplied)
Ernst Calitz and Takudzwa Pongweni
By Ernst Calitz and Takudzwa Pongweni
20 Feb 2025
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More than 80 students at UCT are living in campus offices without proper facilities, while Wits students continue their hunger strike in protest of being excluded from registration due to historical debt. Both universities face mounting pressure as students demand immediate action to address these crises.

Various student societies and club offices at the University of Cape Town (UCT) remain filled with more than 80 students who have been left without accommodation at the institution. Mattresses and what little belongings the students have are scattered on office floors. 

Daily Maverick was granted access to view the living conditions of the students, where many have been living without proper access to showers and beds for multiple days. The students rely on donations from the Students Representative Council (SRC) and other student organisations to get by. 

Read more: UCT students sleep in SRC offices and lecture halls as university faces housing crisis

Most of the students were hesitant to speak to the press due to fears of further prosecution or a potential backlash from future employers. But Khanya Bente, a returning second-year student, voiced her frustrations. 

“The lack of housing is very emotionally and mentally draining. The uncertainty of what the future looks like right now is also really detrimental to our mental health,” Bente said. 

Some of the unhoused students are able to stay with friends and family, but many who are from other provinces or cities have traveled to UCT without any possibility of finding alternative accommodation. 

Read more: Dig these digs — Australia, US varsities offer creative solutions to SA’s student housing crisis

Campus security headache 


UCT Campus Protection Services officers attempted to escort some of the students housed in the offices away and issue written warnings to them after some students allegedly further disrupted classes and triggered fire alarms on campus. 

Campus Protection Services officers claimed that they had footage of the students being caught in the act, but they allegedly failed to provide it when questioned by student leaders. 

University of Witwatersrand students demonstrate on 20 February 2025. (Photo: Supplied)



The SRC met with Campus Protection Services management and came to the consensus that no student would be detained, and that a written warning would rather be announced at the offices where the students were currently staying, according to Funani Tshisundi, a student leader present during the confrontation. At the time of publication, Daily Maverick had been unable to confirm whether the incident actually took place, and who the students were.

On Thursday, Professor Mosa Moshabela, the vice-chancellor of UCT, addressed the ongoing student protests, emphasising that the university would no longer tolerate disruptive actions. He announced a shift in security protocol, authorising Campus Protection Services to intervene in disruptive or violent protests, while still tolerating peaceful demonstrations.

Ongoing unrest


Thousands of students, dressed in black, took to Cape Town’s streets yesterday to demonstrate their frustrations, while Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana was preparing to deliver his first Budget speech under the Government of National Unity (GNU). 

Read more: The prepared speech of Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana that missed the February 19 mark

Students arrived en masse in Cape Town’s city centre after demonstrating and shutting down lectures yesterday morning.

However, after the speech’s cancellation, the students were rerouted by the police to Hanover Street in District 6 where a delegation from the National Treasury accepted a memorandum of demands. 

UCT’s SRC president Thando Lukhele addressed the crowd before handing over the memorandum. Referring to the minister’s cancelled speech, Lukhele stated that “when things don’t go the direction as planned, there are fortunate situations that come out of it. The minister decided to cancel his Budget speech, so henceforth there isn’t a budget conversation that is happening today.

“We are expecting (the delegation) to listen to our demands and go back to the drafting table of the Budget, and when they understand where we are coming from they will go back and design a Budget that is suitable to South Africa and that is suitable to the students of South Africa — who are the future of South Africa,” Lukhele said to the gathered students. 

He added that “we are lucky comrades because there’s no speech that went out, meaning that there is no Budget that is finalised or that has been drafted. So, therefore it can be revisited.” 

Some students were not satisfied with the outcome of the march, and that it had been rerouted away from Parliament. 

Bente was among those in the crowd who was not satisfied. 

“On the positive side, the turnout from the student cohort was amazing, however I don’t think we actually achieved anything. The representative they sent did not say a word to us. I think it was quite strategic of Parliament to cancel the Budget speech and for the police to then blockade Parliament,” Bente said.

UCT’s SRC is also hosting an interfaith vigil on the upper campus on 20 February 2025 for the affected students. The vigil will commence while UCT is having a special council meeting regarding the SRC and students’ demands. 

Moshabela acknowledged that the situation had caused uncertainty and disruption within the campus community, assuring all that steps were being taken to ensure the safety and wellbeing of staff and students, with efforts under way to resolve the matter swiftly.

He stated that management had had a productive discussion with the SRC on Tuesday, leading to a joint proposal that would be presented to the council on Thursday, 20 February 2025. 

Higher education committee criticises Wits over housing and financial exclusion


The Portfolio Committee on Higher Education recently engaged with the University of the Witwatersrand (Wits) to discuss the institution’s readiness for the 2025 academic year. The committee was especially troubled by reports from the Wits SRC that revealed that students were forced to sleep wherever they could find shelter due to a lack of available accommodation. The committee also raised concerns about Wits’ policy requiring students to settle some of their debt before registration, questioning how students were expected to gather the necessary funds. Additionally, the high cost of student accommodation that had been accredited by the university was cited as a key factor contributing to the growing cost of education.

Committee chairperson Tebogo Letsie emphasised the need for regular consultation between university management and students, stressing that effective communication at the start of the academic year could help prevent unnecessary issues. 

“While policies might appear progressive on paper, they become obstacles to progress if not developed through proper consultation with all stakeholders,” Letsie said.

The committee voiced its concern that Wits, like many institutions, had created financial barriers for students with historical debt, a situation further exacerbated by the high cost of living and tuition fees. It recommended that Wits allow students with outstanding debt to register, noting that this would increase the chances of recouping funds once students graduated.

Protests escalate at Wits over financial barriers to registration


In a statement to Parliament, Wits University acknowledged the debt issue but explained that it simply could not afford to clear historical student debt, as doing so would severely affect the university’s functioning. This response comes as students continue their hunger strike in protest of being excluded from registration due to historical debt.

On Thursday, the Wits SRC issued a statement in which they declared they would take “decisive action” against the exclusionary practices of the university. “We refuse to stand by while academically deserving students are excluded due to financial barriers. Education is not a privilege, it is a right! Until every student is registered, we will continue to fight against this systemic oppression. It is our collective view that the university cannot continue as normal while students are not registered,” the SRC’s statement read.

Daily Maverick spoke with a third-year student, who asked to remain anonymous, about the growing crisis. The student emphasised that their protest is a reminder to the university administration of its responsibility to ensure that all students, regardless of financial background, are given equal opportunities to succeed.

“We need solutions that uplift every student. We call for a humane, compassionate approach to financial exclusion, we ask for dialogue, understanding, and action that ensures every student has a chance to thrive. The future of this university is in our hands, but we must all have a seat at the table,” he said. DM

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