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Police fire stun grenades at protesting students outside UNISA in Durban

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Police fired stun grenades to disperse a group of disgruntled protesting students outside the University of South Africa (UNISA). The students block traffic on Stalwart Simelane Road in Durban.

The students, led by members of the South African Students Congress (SASCO), are protesting after the Student Financial Aid Fund (NSFAS) allegedly failed to process the payment of some of their fees.

All academic activity has been suspended.

SASCO provincial chairperson, Emmanuel Shangase says an estimated 70% of students who had applied for financial aid have not received the funding promised.

“We’ve been demanding that UNISA clear up the funds of students that are still owing outstanding fees. However, when we contact NSFAS we were told that the outstanding fees were paid over to UNISA already. When contacting UNISA, they told us that the funds paid over by NSFAS have not cleared yet and that’s why some students cannot access their results.”

One of the students, Wandile Mkhize, says they are concerned that their registration has not been finalised.

“The strike is about student issues. We want our registrations finalised. We understand that NSFAS has paid our fees over to UNISA. But, UNISA hasn’t allocated the money to the proper accounts yet.”

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