Johannesburg - Witwatersrand University's Chairperson of Council, Dr Randall Carolissen, said on Friday that the institution was in “good hands” under Professor Adam Habib's leadership.
“Habib will stay until his contract is over,” Carolissen said during a briefing that was held on campus following the postponement of the general assembly.
On Tuesday, Wits management postponed the academic programme and agreed to hold a General Assembly with students, staff members and alumni to reach an agreement on the way forward.
Wits management had said despite all their attempts and the engagement of former Black Student Society and SRC leaders, the mediation process with the protesting students to resume the academic programme on Monday had been unsuccessful.
Carolissen said Wits management had full confidence in Habib and that the university had grown and improved under his leadership.
The protests that have taken place at various universities in South Africa, started more than two weeks ago after Higher Education Minister Blade Nzimande announced that state universities could hike next year's fees capped at eight percent.
Poor students and those from the so-called “missing middle” and whose household income did not exceed R600 000 would be exempt from the fee increase.
Habib said that around R2 million had been spent per month on private security on campus since the beginning of the student protest action. Habib added that he did not believe there were external agencies creating instability at universities. “I don't believe the crisis is manufactured by external agencies,” he said. “You can't get anything immediately and unfortunately we are not getting all sides singing from the same hymn sheet.”
African News Agency