Thirteen Rhodes University students were arrested on Friday morning. Police had dispersed students who kept protesting against the university’s 2027 fee payment protocol. This was despite an interim High Court interdict.About 100 students gathered near the graduation proceedings in Makhanda. Master’s and doctoral students were due to graduate there. Police used stun grenades and rubber bullets to disperse the protesters.The Eastern Cape High Court granted the interim interdict two days earlier. It restricts protest action that could disrupt university activities. Students had protested on Tuesday and Wednesday. They say the new fee payment protocol could hurt students carrying historical debt.University spokesperson Olwetu Gwanya said she found a group of students singing near the graduation venue.”There were not that many. I’m not good with numbers, maybe 50-plus-ish that were singing and standing over there,” Gwanya said.She said the interdict was already in effect. It covered protest action affecting the graduation.”Because there is that interim interdict that’s in place, the students do know that they were not supposed to do what they did this morning,” she said.Police warned the students repeatedly to disperse. They also read the court order to the group. This was before taking action, according to information gathered at the scene. Private security guards were also present.Gwanya stressed that the South African Police Service made the arrests, not the university.”The people who were arrested [were arrested by] the police, South African Police Service,” she said.Asked what would happen to the arrested students, Gwanya said their cases had entered the legal process.”That’s the legal aspect of things. Remember, it’s not the university aspect,” she said. “Once you become a lawbreaker, then the law takes its course.”She did not rule out separate action by the university. Its executive will meet to discuss Friday’s events.Talks with the Student Representative Council (SRC) have not ended. Another meeting is planned for next week. Gwanya said some of the students’ issues remain open to consideration.”Some of the issues that they are raising are not beyond consideration,” she said. She added that management needs time to analyse and model the students’ proposals.The Office of the Chief Financial Officer is reviewing some of the SRC’s recommendations. Gwanya said management and the SRC had earlier reached a point of “convergence”. Further feedback is expected at the next meeting.”Right now, the Office of the Chief Financial Officer is doing a review and modelling of some of the recommendations that they are putting forward,” she said.The aim is to see whether compromises are possible on some disputed provisions.”This is where we can reach a balance, where we can meet halfway,” she said.Friday’s protest appeared to surprise management.”For us, it’s quite concerning that then it becomes what we saw now, because it doesn’t align to what we spoke about in the meeting,” Gwanya said.The SRC said it did not organise the gathering. In a statement on Friday, it called it a “silent protest” organised by “an unidentified group of students”. It reminded students that the interdict remains legally binding.The SRC also asked police to consider student vulnerability when enforcing the order.”Violence is never the answer,” the SRC said. It asked students to report anyone who had been arrested or injured.The protest is part of a wider dispute over the 2027 fee payment arrangements. The main concern is the requirements affecting students with outstanding debt.Friday’s arrests moved the dispute back onto the streets. Talks between management and student representatives are expected to continue next week. The interdict remains in force.The matter returns to the Eastern Cape High Court on 27 October.
13 students arrested as Rhodes fee protest continues despite court interdict
