The Walter Sisulu University (WSU) student leadership, business, taxi operators and community came together on World Aids Day in Whittlesea outside Komani to avert the closure of the institution’s Whittlesea campus which could have dire economic downfall.
The peaceful marchers stood between the campus and a standalone marquee where testing of chronic illnesses took place. On his way to the main event of the World Aids Day commemoration, Eastern Cape premier Oscar Mabuyane’s convoy stopped to listen to the people. A memorandum of grievances was prepared by the university’s stakeholders.
The decision to close the campus was put squarely on the newly appointed vice chancellor professor Rushiella Songca. The memorandum said in less than just six months of her appointment, the university received devastating news of a management decision to close down the campuses. The Whittlesea campus would be shut down completely, while the Komani one will be used for short courses.
The closure was seen as a total disregard and an insult of the community within and outside the district to which the institution draws students and employees. The stakeholders demanded that the decision be permanently removed from the agenda of the management.
“That what they call rationalisation and consolidation of programmes can be done through a consultative process with stakeholders within and outside the university,” the memorandum read.
“We are firm in believing that any restructuring of any government entity or parastatal should be done with stakeholder consultation through a protracted programme wherein the IDP of the district and local municipalities should be taken cognisance of. This should be aligned as academic programmes are meant to empower, capacitate and reskill the community members to maximise the economy of the region,” the memorandum read, adding that poverty reduction was at the centre.
The business, taxi operators and community committed to work with unions and students of the university to ensure that proper processes were followed. It concluded by saying that the university was a source of knowledge, means out of poverty and an economic driver in the rural town of Whittlesea.
Mabuyane received the memo and said there was an urgent planned meeting between government and the university. He said the petition would be passed to Songca and her management and that answers would be expected in the planned meeting.
“It is our interest to have a university in a rural area when you talk about development of rural areas. Not to close a university when you already have one. A long way had been travelled to have a university campus in a rural area. We should then have a better way to deal with challenges,” he said.
Mabuyane urged the stakeholders to work with the university saying it was not just about WSU but a provincial issue. If there was a lack of resources, he said, a way to resolve the matter should be found. He further said that education would liberate the country, adding that having a university close by would encourage local youth to go to school.
The campus is using a building which was used by Masibulele College of Education which was closed down. Mabuyane said government felt the pain of the stakeholders.
