Mahikeng students can stay in their residences as protests continue

Students on the Mahikeng campus of the North-West University (NWU) were requested to vacate the premises by 14:00 pm on Wednesday, 17 March 2021, due to ongoing protests and blockades at the campus. 

Professor Dan Kgwadi, Vice-Chancellor of the NWU, announced the closure of the Mahikeng campus with immediate effect on Tuesday due to security concerns and the continued violation of COVID-19 protocols by protesters. The closure will continue until further notice.

Thabang Tlale (28), the secretary general and SCC chairperson of the Mahikeng campus, said he pleaded with the NWU management for students to be granted permission to stay in their designated residences.

“The students do not have money to travel back home, some students stay far away and others have to attend practicals,” Tlale said.

The management agreed to the request for students who can not go home to remain on campus, under the following conditions:

• They have to stay inside residences
• The university gates will remain closed 

Thabo Anthony (21), an international student representative and law student at the NWU’s Mahikeng campus, said that he is happy that student leaders are engaging with the NWU management to ensure that residential students can remain on campus.

He said that it was initially not clear what was going to happen with international students. “There are students coming from as far as Nigeria, Zimbabwe and eSwatini. Some of these countries still have their borders closed,” he said.

In a statement on the NWU website Kgwadi said: “We have received numerous requests from students, to allow them to stay on campus due to travel and other challenges. These students should make the necessary arrangements with their respective Student Life’s Residence offices.”

Anthony said: “I am happy about staying, because if it were a situation where students had to vacate their residences, then it would put international students in a difficult position, because some of them do not have relatives in the country. They would become destitute.”

Kgwadi’s statement continued: “The NWU Management strongly condemns the recent spate of violence and damage to university property. We will need to use the already limited funds to fix the damaged property. We urge students to respect the university property and adhere to the necessary regulations and protocols. We remain committed to continuing engagements with student leaders to ensure that all outstanding issues, especially those within the control of the university can be addressed. Although we would like all matters including lack of funds to be addressed as a matter of urgency, we cannot, regrettably, resolve the issues that are beyond our mandate.”

Mahikeng students who need help related to data, permission letters and other related queries, can contact the following numbers:

• SMS-line: 31750
• Email: NWU-serviceline@nwu.ac.za
• WA-line: +27 60 070 2606