THE University of the Witwatersrand (Wits) has struck a deal that will see its academic programme resume but other institutions are on tenterhooks.
To test the strength of the compromise, Wits academics will go back to campus on Monday and students will follow on Tuesday.
University of Cape Town Vice-Chancellor Dr Max Price issued a statement late on Sunday saying UCT will resume academic operations on Monday.
However, there is uncertainty about whether other universities will follow suit. Some have placed their hopes in a planned presidential imbizo on the fees crisis taking place on Monday.
The University of Cape Town refused to comment on whether it had reached consensus about re-opening on Monday.
South African Union of Students deputy general secretary at Wits Fasiha Hassan said it did not want the academic programme to continue until after the presidential imbizo, at which President Jacob Zuma, Higher Education Minister Blade Nzimande, vice-chancellors and student leaders were scheduled to talk about the crisis engulfing higher education.
The University of Fort Hare, which has a history of nurturing some of post-colonial Africa’s founding fathers, has to approach the courts to evict students forcibly from its residences, citing the fact that it has instituted a shutdown.
The eviction case will he heard on Monday.
Rhodes University vice-chancellor Sizwe Mabizela has been talking to student representatives to resolve the fees issue.
Rhodes was the site of disturbing scenes of police brutality last week, which raised questions about the police’s public order function.
The securitisation of the higher learning space has also raised concern among stakeholders.
The University of the Free State will remain shut until October 7 and the University of Limpopo has been closed indefinitely, while management and students discuss a way forward. University of KwaZulu-Natal spokeswoman Sejal Desai said the university’s academic programme was going ahead.
The #FeesMustFall protests were triggered by Nzimande’s announcement that universities would determine their own fee hikes for 2017, with a recommendation this be capped at 8%.
He also said the government would subsidise the increase for "missing middle" students with an income of below R600,000 and those financed by the National Student Financial Aid Scheme.
But students have rejected this as a false positive, and said it papers over the structural issues bedevilling higher education.
Political analyst Ralph Mathekga said: "We have tensions that are boiling and have been boiling for years, #FeesMustFall is expressive of the tensions in SA."
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