Durban - A day after #FeesMustFall activist Bonginkosi Khanyile was released from Westville Prison, he was at the Durban University of Technology representing suspended EFF Students Command leader Philani “Gazuzu” Nduli.
Nduli faces a charge of serious misconduct in terms of Rule SR3 (2) of DUT’s Student Code of Conduct, which states “no member shall bring the SRC into disrepute through his/her public conduct”.
Speaking to the Sunday Tribune, Nduli, who is the DUT chairperson of the EFF Student Command, said he was charged for addressing a group of just under 100 students at the Steve Biko campus earlier this year when the issue of accommodation was flaring up.
He said there was a “political vendetta” against the red berets on campus and said campus ANC Youth League leaders, who had addressed the same crowd were not suspended.
The beds crisis saw some students forced to sleep in offices during registration week, while the crisis has not been resolved.
The National Student Financial Aid Scheme ( NSFAS) has authorised students to find their own private accommodation and has committed to pay landlords.
Nduli said the case against him had been brought by SRC president Zama Mncube, who was not present at the tribunal on Friday, resulting in a week’s postponement.
In the meantime, he remains barred from attending classes and has been told to vacate his residence.
Mncube did not respond to text messages, calls and Whatsapp text messages sent to her.
“The vice-chancellor gave an executive order that prevents non-SRC members from addressing students, but they did not send it to us on e-mail or put it in on the notice boards,” said Nduli.
“Critical communication like that must be sent to all students, but in any case, I am the chair of the EFF SC on campus and I represent my constituency. If students are experiencing challenges, we have the responsibility to address these issues. This order seeks to silence the voices of the students. The university wants everything to go through the SRC while the SRC is antagonistic towards us because we are the EFF,” he said.
DUT did not respond to a request for comment as the acting Vice-Chancellor Professor Thandi Cwele was in Pretoria. Cwele signed the suspension letter which the Sunday Tribune has seen.
Khanyile said he was in the process of registering as a BTech public management and economics student at the university after being released from jail, where he spent 155 days.
He was arrested in September and faces six charges including incitement to commit public violence, illegal gathering, possession of explosives (a car tyre), possession of a dangerous weapon (a slingshot), and obstructing traffic and causing a nuisance on public roads. He is out on R250 bail.
He is due in the Durban Magistrate’s Court on March 17.
Khanyile said Nduli’s tribunal had been postponed to Friday as the complainant did not arrive. They have requested that Nduli be allowed to return to classes while awaiting an outcome.
Speaking after his release, he said: “I am still not a free man, I’m out of prison. In South Africa, a black man is not a free man.”
He was denied bail in the Durban Magistrate’s Court and by the High Court and the Supreme Court of Appeal, which dismissed his application. He was granted bail by the Constitutional Court on Wednesday.
He was the last student behind bars following a flurry of fees protest arrests last year.
Wearing a T-shirt bearing Fidel Castro’s face, Khanyile was energetic, as he stepped out of detention.
“There is nothing we have achieved, despite the so-called missing middle; our demand is a free and decolonised education.
“We know that government can afford it,” Khanyile told a crowd outside the prison.
Sunday Tribune
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