NEHAWU declares state of emergency at CPUT

By Kim Saulse
7 August 2009

The National Education Health and Allied Workers Union (NEHAWU) has declared a state of emergency at The Cape Peninsula University of Technology (CPUT).

NEHAWU has condemned what they call the “militarised solution” of the campus in dealing with the protest action by students.

The students at the institution are boycotting an increase in registration fees approved by CPUT management, but not agreed upon by the student body.

In a statement released by NEHAWU, the union listed the following grievances with CPUT management:
· Upfront payments determines who gets access to tertiary institutions – you do not pay you do not get registered
·For the working class the system of upfront payment is the first barrier they face in dealing with access to institutions of higher learning
·Working class learners have to find a couple of thousand rands in February of every year in order to be registered
·Working class learners trying to access CPUT have to find double and triple the normal amount as an upfront payment in order to register next year
·Poor students are saying no!!
*The solution for the CPUT management has been to bring on to the campus a security firm called Red Jackets and the police

The past week of protest action was marred by physical fights between students and the ‘Red Jackets’, the use of live ammunition by police leaving several students injured, looting at cafeterias and suspended classes at the Cape Town Campus.