The Law Faculty has issued a statement to University of Cape Town’s Executive, accusing members of knowing about the planned shutdown this week, and failing to inform the wider university community. It claimed that the executive was complicit 'in the violence, aggression and intimidation that comes with student shutdowns'.
The Law Faculty claims that the Executive at the University of Cape Town (UCT) was aware of intentions to shut down campuses but did not inform the wider university community.
In a statement released by Dean of Law, Danwood Chirwa, on Friday, 17 February, the faculty said it was “deeply concerned” by the move, and suggested that the executive did not take adequate action to ensure that students and staff were protected from the fallout.
The executive includes the Vice-Chancellor Mamokgethi Phakeng and her deputies.
The faculty stated that UCT’s Executive “knowingly exposed staff and students to the risk of intimidation, aggression, and violence from protesting students”.
The Law Faculty’s statement comes alongside the news that UCT is to suspend Phakeng.
UCT’s Student Representative Council (SRC) initiated a campus shutdown on Monday, 13 February, the first day of the academic year. The shutdown was intended to protest ongoing issues at the university, including fee blocks, financial exclusion and unhoused students.
The latter is of particular concern for the SRC, as the student housing department made the decision to withdraw residence offers from students with fee blocks, which left many students without accommodation.
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The SRC encouraged the suspension of academic activity and barred entrance to the university, in protest. UCT then moved lectures online for the remainder of the week, until it released a notice at 10pm on Thursday, 16 February, that in-person activity would resume on Friday, 17 February. The university promptly retracted the notice, as protests continued on Friday morning, and in-person teaching was unfeasible.
In its statement, the Law Faculty said it believed that UCT released the Thursday evening notice, knowing that no agreement with students to cease protests had been reached.
The Law Faculty expressed its contempt about the way UCT’s Executive has dealt with the campus shutdown. Beyond making claims that the Executive did not make the university community aware of the intent to shut down campus, the faculty noted that campus disruptions have “caused significant physical and psychological harm to students and staff”. The faculty indicated that Campus ...