No more monkey business

The North-West University (NWU) Potchefstroom Student Campus Council (SCC) is acting proactively as complaints about aggressive monkeys on campus have been increasing.

According to Mr Louis Jacobs, NWU spokesperson, the growing monkey problem is a fixed agenda point at Potchefstroom Campus Management meetings.

The ever-present monkeys have escalated to a problem. Since implementing the Covid-19 lockdown protocol two years ago, monkeys have been roaming the campus freely, but now students have returned into their habitat, Beàtha Groenewald, SCC chairperson of Transformation and Diversity Office with Current Affairs, said.

In a poll conducted by threestreamsmedia among 12 NWU Potchefstroom students, eight said the monkey problem was escalating. Four students said they have personally been attacked or know of someone who had been attacked by the monkeys on campus.  

To combat the problem, the Transformation and Diversity Office with Current Affairs instructed all the house committees (HCs) and student chapters (SCs) to work on detailed solutions and submit them by 1 April 2022. “This will ensure that there are 36 structured plans the SCC can give to the NWU management concerning the escalating monkey problem,” Groenewald said.

Groenewald said escalating problems include monkeys breaking into residence rooms, stealing food and raiding rubbish bins. Rising monkey aggression has lead to students avoiding certain spaces, such as Lover’s Lane. Students in the poll repeated these concerns.

“From the perspective of someone in a residence, the monkeys climb into our rooms… and search through our things for something to eat, while also causing damage to our belongings,” Jana Schlechter (21)*, resident at Heide woman’s residence, said. She added that monkeys have trashed her room and thrown her printer around, searching for food.

When asked for possible solutions, six students recommended removing the monkeys from campus – from getting a cruelty-free company to relocate them to removing the leaders. 

Groenewald stressed that the proposed solutions will not allow “violence, ammunition or poisonous substances”, and that the monkeys will be ethically relocated.

“Another solution can be to get special lids for the bins on campus that monkeys can’t open easily. If they cannot get food easily, they might go elsewhere to find food. This will also help with the problem of throwing trash around,” Ruth Pretorius (21), honours student in forensic accounting, said. This sentiment is shared with three other students in the survey. 

Buhle Siko (20), a BCom marketing student, said scheduling when residence windows are open might prevent the monkeys from invading the resident’s privacy and consuming the student’s groceries. 

Jacobs suggested several precautions students can take to prevent attacks on students, including not aggravating the monkeys by teasing them with food or attempting to take photos of the babies. He also advises students to call Protection Services if monkeys violate buildings or pose an imminent danger.

“Saying all of this, no viable solution has been decided on yet to handle the matter in a more permanent manner,” Jacobs said.

*Schlechter is a journalist at threestreamsmedia.