Student protest action continues at ORBIT TVET Mankwe campus

Mankwe – ORBIT TVET Mankwe Campus has been faced with a student protest since the reopening of the college in January 2020, due to concerns raised by student representative council (SRC) members. The college has, from the onset, deemed these concerns in a very serious light. The protest which saw SRC members barricading the campus gate daily has resulted in the campus being non-operational and thus affecting teaching and learning. 

The key issue at hand was the barring of the 2019 SRC president, Nkosinathi Delmani by the college from registering for the 2020 academic year, as per the admission policy (paragraph 16.2), which focuses on admission exclusion read together with paragraph 75 of the Department of Higher Education’s Admission Policy. The exclusion came after Delmani had failed to pass more than two consecutive examinations. 

On 17 January 2020, an interim court order was granted by the High Court and served to the students. 

Despite the court order, the SRC continued to barricade the campus gates, thereby denying access to students and staff. 

Through the intervention of the office of the Minister of Higher Education and Training (DHET), Blade Nzimande, a meeting was convened on 25 February at ORBIT College, Central Office in seeking an amicable solution for all parties involved. 

After long deliberations, the representatives from the minister’s office advised senior management to waive the admission policy, on condition that a settlement agreement is drafted and signed between senior management and the SRC stating that the former SRC president, Delmani be registered as a student at the college. 

Senior Management unanimously agreed to the said proposal but, stated that the challenge with the implementation of the decision to register Delmani at this stage would be hampered by the fact that registration for trimester one has long been closed. Senior management then suggested that Delmani be registered fort trimester two of the current academic year, a suggestion which all present fully supported except for Delmani. 

This resulted in the SRC refusing to sign the settlement agreement, and them resolving to continue barricading the Mankwe Campus gate. 

Further deliberations led to DHET officials advising to temporarily close down Mankwe Campus, upon which the college senior management submitted an official request to do so to the office of the director general, Gwebinkundla Qonde. The request also included an urgent plea to DHET to assist by involving the national police structures in restoring order at the campus. 

This stand taken by the SRC not to accept the compromise and to continue with the strike has several serious implications, should students not be able to return to class. The most serious consequence is undoubtedly the lack of academic progress by students as a result of non-attendance of classes, which might ultimately result in the affected students failing their examinations. 

Not attending classes will also have an impact on the financial aid of bursary-funded students as students may forfeit their allowances for the current academic cycle. 

Students who are residing in the campus hostels are required to pass to be accommodated. Poor academic performance as a result of non-attendance may therefore jeopardize these students’ hostel accommodation. 

All the above implications come at a time when there are less than twenty lecturing days left before the commencement of Trimester 1 examinations. 

As it stands, it appears that the interests and wellbeing of approximately 2300 registered students depend on one individual; Delmani’s acceptance of a compromise by the college and DHET to allow him to register for trimester two. His unwillingness to co-operate puts the future of all these students at risk – both academically and financially – as they might end up being unable to complete their studies. 

However, senior management remains committed to implementing recovery plans to ensure that order is restored at Mankwe Campus and that a conducive teaching and learning environment prevails once more. 

Extracts from ORBIT TVET College press release, 28 February