On 25 June, the UP SRC released a statement rejecting the university’s proposed increase in the registration fee for the 2023 academic year. The university management has stated its intentions to increase student registration fees for undergraduate studies by 50%, and for post-graduate studies by 33%. Per the SRC statement, the rationale behind the increase is predicated on the lack of a registration fee increase since 2016. The SRC contends that there was a “lack of consultation with students and student leaders who would have raised it as a matter of concern before the decision was taken”. In light of this, PDBY approached the president of the SRC, Thuto Mashila, the secretary general of the SRC, Tarik Lalla, and DASO UP EC member Kyle Pepler to gather their thoughts on the matter.
Consequently, there is much controversy over how the university came to the amount that fees would increase with. Pepler speculated, “The university increased the registration fees, aligning it to the rate of inflation after the Fees Must Fall campaign had initially succeeded in freezing the fee from 2016 to 2022.” However, Lalla offered a perspective from the administration’s position as he explained, “We weren’t informed of the decision to increase fees; [the most] we were told is that the other research intensive universities make similar decisions in the same manner […] We maintain the view that there was no official consultation process [with the 2022 SRC]. We were told by the outgoing 2021 SRC that the university had notified them of the fee increase, and they stressed that this notification was in no way a consultation, and was delivered as if it were an information session. Thus, we are unaware of what exact factors led to making this decision”.
In light of the above, this raises a very important question on the nature of consultation between university management, the SRC and UP students. Pepler believed that there must have been a procedural error, as “a fee increase could not have been approved without a Council meeting taking place. This means that the university consults with the student representatives in the university’s council, [meaning] that according to what the SRC has said, the university has not followed protocol”.
However, the more accurate answer to this question comes down to the fact that the nature of a decision dictates how students will feature in that decision. As Mashila explained, “it depends on the decision being taken […] There are various statutory bodies within the university. You have: the Senate, Council and the Institutional Forum. That’s where the decisions are made, and within these bodies there are varying levels of student representation alongside UP staff and lecturers and the executive”.
This is confirmed in the Statute of the University of Pretoria. For example, section 14(9) of the statute, as well as sections 15(f), 17(3) and section 25(b)(i) all include some kind of student representation within the decision-making bodies throughout the University of Pretoria. So the statute recognises student voices in the Senate and Council. However, when it comes to the Executive and the decisions that are taken by the Executive, student voices are absent. This particular decision is one that did not necessarily have to pass the Senate and Council to be made, as it was an Executive decision. Mashila confirmed this: “This particular decision did not have to go through the Council or the Senate. The Executive of the University can make this decision without consulting the Council or the Senate.”
So what does the fee increase mean to students? The reality is that it will impact students negatively, as Lalla explained, “we are well aware of the fact that this will adversely affect students […] The post-pandemic economic status of South African families is worse than before the pandemic. It is unjustified to put economic pressure on families when we know that they are in a worse position than they were prior to the pandemic.” In support of this position, Pepler added, “The fee increase means that we face greater risk of facing debt with the university […] you will have more families struggling to put their families through tertiary education.”
Given the precarious situation students are now in, what can be done about the fee increase? Pepler offered three solutions: “We can lower the rate of the increase as a solution, or make the fee remain the same as it is […] Another solution may be to increase the discount when paying the full fees before the set date. DASO will be running a petition and we encourage all students and parents to sign this petition which will be taken up to the UP council.” The latter solution presents a few logistical problems, as students would still have to pay the registration fee, and only wealthy families would benefit from this increased discount. Mashila offered a solution from her position in the SRC: “we intend to have a meeting with management and renegotiate the decision. We maintain our stance; we don’t want an increase!” Mashila continued, “UP students cannot afford a registration fee increase of 50%; at the beginning of semester 2 we will engage with management.”. Lalla added, “engagement is our first priority. We will ensure our students are represented adequately, as our students are the biggest stakeholders, and it’s only fair that their voices be heard […] If not, then there are other ways to engage”.
As harrowing as this all may be, it leaves one to ponder as to whether the university has students’ best interests in mind, as it claims. On this, Lalla had the following to say: “if we view the Senate, Council, and everyone within these bodies, we cannot view them in the same lens. There are definitely people in these bodies who view the increase as unfair […] There may be people who have a genuine concern for students. However, once we see the outcome of our discussion with management we will be in a better position to see where the university is coming from, and if we get what we want, then maybe the university does care.”
However, students should not despair at the potential of this harrowing reality, and the leaders offer their perspectives. Lalla offered his view, saying, “We are adamant that we will get what we want.We haven’t walked away from that goal.” Mashila added, “As the SRC, we are there to fight this. However, students must realise that they also need to stand up for themselves, as it is unrealistic to place the fate of an outcome that affects thousands of students on thirty-odd individuals […] More than anything, for this situation, should the outcome not be what we want, we want students to participate.”
Fees Must Fall started under similar circumstances. A huge part of the success of the movement came from the collective action that students took against the matters that affected all of them. As a result, those students made history, and they sparked the student activism of the 21st century. Who knows what the outcome of this fee increase may yield in a post-covid South Africa? Perhaps SRC President Mashila puts it best when she says, “As long as you feel this is unfair for you, come”.
Oh my this is awkward. Having to tell you who I am is a whole ordeal because I am still trying to figure that out myself lol. The most I know at this point is that, I am an unhinged hillbilly from a small town in Northern Kwa-Zulu Natal; My first love had “Petronella” as a middle name (gross right?); I will on occasion get dressed in a onesie, using my red blankie as a cape to live out my fantasy of being the caped crusader of justice: Captain Tanuki; Finally, I have an obsession with owls that should get its own section in the DSM-V. On that owl thing, I feel like in one of my many past lives as a shrew somewhere in the world, I met my end to one of those majestic birds and that specific bird reincarnated as my first love who, at the time of writing, has not killed me…yet! Talk about a circle of life, neh. My goals? Well right now, I have but one very simple goal: to be the best human I can possibly be. Achieving that would make a hillbilly like me, a better person and growth is always good. My time at the paper has made sure I stay on this path. Should a lost soul wanting to know about the paper, stumbles across this bio, I want you to know that I will totally be a radically different person in the best way possible. Who knows, I might have reincarnated as an owl, by then.