UNISWA CLOSED

MANZINI – All campuses of the University of Swaziland have been closed amid intimidation of staff by rioting students as they continued with their class boycott.

The UNISWA management,  through the Acting Registrar, Dr. Salebona Simelane, yesterday morning issued a memorandum informing students that they were expected to vacate the two campuses with immediate effect.
This was after senate held an emergency meeting at Kwaluseni in the morning to discuss the continued class boycott by students which entered its third consecutive day.

According to university rules and regulations, the boycotting of classes for over 48 hours results in the closure of the institution and all students removed from the premises until recalled by senate.
The university resolved that the Kwaluseni and Luyengo campuses be closed with immediate effect to ensure the safety of life and property. All students were ordered to have vacated the university by 10:30am yesterday.

As early as 10am, students started making their way out of campus.
UNISWA Kwaluseni Student Representative Council Chairman Mancoba Shongwe confirmed that students were not at all prepared to return to class. He said the decision to continue with their class boycott was unanimously taken on Tuesday in a meeting.

“Students want their new SRC executive to start functioning so that pending issues like the proposed increment on allowances under the 60 per cent scholarship policy could be discussed with government,” he explained.
Shongwe said this was the reason students remained resolute in their decision to continue with the class boycott as they want the Mbabane campus reopened so that the joint meeting could be a reality. Previously, students had vowed not to leave the campus even when ordered to do so supposedly to illustrate to the UNISWA administration that they meant business. Shongwe explained that the SRC had spoken to students and advised them to allow the evacuation process to take place as they were not ready to bear the brunt of having students beaten up by security officers.

“We have seen in other class boycotts incidents where some students were injured when violence erupted during such exercises,” he said.
The SRC will be meeting with the UNISWA administration on Friday with the hope that students would thereafter return to the institution where their examinations for the first semester are expected to begin  in three weeks time.

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