More than 15,000 students at Eastern Cape universities have been left high and dry by the water crisis as campuses in Butterworth and Alice have chosen to close in the face of dry taps.
The decision by University of Fort Hare’s Alice campus to close on Tuesday, described as “extraordinary” by management, came only a day after Walter Sisulu University’s (WSU) Butterworth campus did the same.
The timing could not be worse as students prepare for the all-important last section of the year. A student leader at WSU, Anga Nyokana, said the closure of their campus “has affected us severely”.
Nyokana said the student leadership pleaded and eventually came to an agreement with university management that some students “who are from far and are experiencing financial constraints, be allowed not to leave campus”.
The closures come as a result of the ongoing water crisis in local municipalities falling under Amathole district municipality’s (ADM) jurisdiction.
UFH vice-chancellor Professor Sakhela Buhlungu issued a memorandum to all staff members and students late on Tuesday, instructing them to vacate the university’s Alice campus with immediate effect. He told the varsity community not to return until Monday.
The community protest action ... poses health and physical safety dangers to our staff and students
In the memo seen by the Dispatch, Buhlungu describes the decision to close the university campus as “extraordinary”.
“All Alice-based staff members and students are advised to take a few days break from their normal routine and use this time to refresh and re-energise for the last quarter of 2019 academic year.
“Management is confident that the crisis will be resolved by this Friday, and accordingly, all academic activities and other work on the Alice campus, will resume on Monday,” Buhlungu said.
UFH spokesperson Thandi Mapukata was unable to comment on Wednesday as she was in a meeting with student leadership.
“I am currently in an SRC [student representative council] and management meeting. I am unable to respond now because the answers will be provided by other colleagues who are directly responsible for this service, and who are also in this meeting,” Mapukata said late on Wednesday.
However, a senior management source at the Alice campus, who asked to remain anonymous as he is not mandated to speak to the media, on Wednesday confirmed that the campus had been closed down, affecting 7,500 students and 500 staff members.
The university had been without water for nine days by Wednesday, he said.
“We have been experiencing constant water cuts in the Alice campus for the past two years due to various reasons, including poor infrastructure. However we have only been without water for a week now as a result of the ADM labour unions strike,” he said.
WSU spokesperson Yonela Tukwayo said 7,800 students and staff had been affected. The university had incurred “heavy financial costs for buying and transporting water to the campus”. The ADM strike was called off this week when employees and management reached an agreement over pay increases.
In a memo dated August 13, WSU vice-chancellor Professor Rob Midgley said management had opted to shut down operations at the Butterworth’s Ibika campus amid the water crisis protests.
Midgley said the university had opened some of its water resources to the broader Butterworth community, but then some people went on the rampage destroying the university’s water infrastructure.
“The situation escalated, with community members encouraging students to join their protest, and in so doing, they also destroyed the university’s water supply system and various water containers on campus.”
Butterworth and surrounding areas were shaken by violent protests which saw streets barricaded and 16 protesters arrested for public violence.
Midgley said: “Police have not been able to control or curtail the damage. The lack of a reliable water supply and the community protest action has created a situation which poses health and physical safety dangers to our staff and students in Butterworth.
“We can no longer provide sanitary living and working conditions for students and staff.”
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