Emergency evacuation triggered at major university in South Africa

The Cape Peninsula University of Technology (CPUT) has activated an emergency evacuation of all residences and has shut down all campuses following an arson attack.

In an urgent note to staff and students on Tuesday (18 August), the university said that the shutdown would be indefinite, in effect until further notice.

This is to ensure safety at the university.

The university said that fire officials responded to the fire at the Old Education building on the Belville campus, marking another escalation in violent protests.

It has now reached a point where someone is likely to be seriously injured “or worse”, it said.

“Continued violent disruptions, torching of buildings, and malicious attacks on institutional infrastructure have forced university management to close all campuses until further notice and immediately evacuate the residences,” it said.

“Unruly individuals, acting in bad faith, with the sole purpose of making the university dysfunctional, have left Management with no other choice but to act swiftly and decisively.”

The university added that all academic activities will cease with immediate effect while staff continue to work from home.

Students and staff have been given 24 hours—until Wednesday, 19 August 16h00—to vacate all residences.

“The safety of our campus community is our top priority, and the evacuation is now our only option to de-escalate the violence and protect lives.”

The shutdown follows days of unrest and protests among students, centred around the university’s plan to to reduce R4.2 billion in student debt.

This would have been achieved by requiring students to pay a mandatory registration fee of R7,000 and a portion of their outstanding arrears upfront.

Under this recovery plan, the option to register by signing a debt pledge would no longer be available.

Students protested the plan, delivering two memoranda of demands to CPUT leadership, which resulted in the plan being withdrawn.

Despite the withdrawal, violent protests continued at the university’s Bellville campus throughout last week, including a security vehicle being set on fire at the Wellington campus.

The protests, organised by the central SRC, drew participation from various student organisations.

This includes the Pan-Africanist Student Movement of Azania, the Economic Freedom Fighters Students’ Command, and the uMkhonto weSizwe Student Movement.