Following days of unrest on the three campuses of the University of the Free State (UFS), during which several students were arrested for alleged public violence and the university moved its academic programme online, Bloemfontein Courant spoke to the Bloemfontein Campus Student Representative Council (SRC) President.
Ogorogile Moleme told the publication that the protest was organised after the council’s memorandum to reverse the university’s decision to phase out provisional registration from 2026 was rejected. Provisional registration previously allowed students to register while they still had outstanding fees.
“We submitted a memorandum of demands to the management. Our main request was for the university to reconsider its decision to discontinue provisional registration for next year, but they declined,” explained the SRC president.
Moleme said that prior to the protest action, the council met with university management to negotiate the decision. “Negotiations did not work because we knew the decision was not a feasible option, especially since we have just emerged from a national funding crisis. Now, just as we are about to recover from that and prepare for our exams, the university decides to eliminate provisional registration.”
The UFS defended its decision, stating that the institution is “deeply concerned about the rising levels of student debt and the impact this has on both students and the institution” and that “registration data found that provisional registration is not an effective mechanism to support students with financial challenges.”
The SRC president said that initial negotiations yielded no results, leading to the decision to protest peacefully from Wednesday (8/10). Moleme explained that the institution’s policies for protests were adhered to, but protesters were immediately concerned at the sight of South African Police Service members on campus.
On Thursday (9/10), protest action intensified, with classes being suspended, tests postponed, and gates to the campuses closed. It was during this time that students were arrested. The arrested students appeared in court today and were released on a warning. They will appear in court again.
The SRC met with UFS management today (10/10), hoping to resolve the issue. “They told us that reversing the decision is not a possibility,” Moleme explained. “We accept that the university is not in a position to reverse their decision, but now we need to look for concessions and see how we can assist our students.”
Moleme said that he understands not everyone can be assisted, but the UFS management’s concessions would not help the majority of students. The SRC has once again responded to the UFS, stating that they do not agree with their conditions, leading to continued negotiations.
Bloemfontein Courant will continue to follow up on new developments.
Warren Hawkins
warren@mahareng.co.za
