USAf condemns violence at UFH

University umbrella body, Universities South Africa (USAf) has condemned acts of violence which have been playing out at the University of Fort Hare. 

Students have been protesting at the institution, resulting in the suspension of all academic activities.

The administrative and student affairs building at the main campus was set alight, while several other blocks were also petrol bombed.

The demonstrations were triggered by student calls for the resignation of Vice-Chancellor Sakhela Buhlungu.

They have accused Buhlungu of mismanagement and altering SRC governance regulations.

USAf spokesperson Mateboho Green said there could be no justification for acts of arson.

"The USAf board of directors asserts that no level of students’ emotional distress or dissatisfaction, however deeply felt, can ever justify the torching of university infrastructure. The destruction of the four buildings, developed through significant investment to advance young people, constitutes an act of self-sabotage, selfish, short-sighted, and deeply harmful to the very communities they were built to serve."