The rectors\u2019 offices of the University of Pretoria (UP) and Stellenbosch University (SU) have responded positively to AfriForum Youth\u2019s offer to help promote student safety on campus. In light of the #NoStudentLeftBehind protests, the youth organisation sent letters to the management of UP and SU requesting clarity on the universities\u2019 existing safety measures. The same letters were also sent to the management of the University of the Free State (UFS) and the North-West University (NWU) but AfriForum Youth received no response from them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In the letters, which were sent to the universities in February, AfriForum Youth specifically asked for the universities\u2019 plans to ensure safety on and around campus during possible protest actions; how students and staff are communicated with in the event of unrest; what is being done to prevent violence and coordinate law enforcement; and how student council members are held accountable for their role in unrest and academic disruption.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Prof. Francis Petersen, UP Rector, and Prof. Stan du Plessis, SU\u2019s Acting Rector and Vice-Chancellor, confirmed in writing in response to AfriForum Youth\u2019s letters that they are willing to engage with the youth organisation regarding the intended safety initiatives. These universities have also undertaken to strengthen security on campuses themselves.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\n\u201cWhat is worrying, however, is that the UFS and the NWU have still not responded to our letters \u2013 despite several follow-up requests. This silence indicates an inability or unwillingness to treat student safety as a priority,\u201d emphasises Yvonne Gerber, AfriForum Youth\u2019s officer for development.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n
\n\u201cIt is unacceptable that tertiary institutions ignore student safety, while protests, intimidation and academic disruption are a reality and a regular problem on the campuses.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n
AfriForum Youth has already started to implement proactive measures to ensure student safety on the UP, SU, UFS and NWU campuses.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\n\u201cWe are in the process of establishing student neighbourhood watches that will conduct patrols on and around the respective campuses. Furthermore, we have established WhatsApp groups for immediate support and plan to hold self-defence training for students on the campuses. A safety audit will also take place and a survey on campus safety will be sent to students,\u201d says Gerber.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n
\n\u201cStudents must take safety into their own hands and will ensure that they can continue with their academic obligations on campus without any disruptions and dangers.”<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n
AfriForum Youth will still hold the universities to their promises and continue to fight for students\u2019 right to a safe, stable learning environment.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The rectors\u2019 offices of the University of Pretoria (UP) and Stellenbosch University (SU) have responded positively to AfriForum Youth\u2019s offer to help promote student safety…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":103,"featured_media":1122,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"none","_seopress_titles_title":"","_seopress_titles_desc":"","_seopress_robots_index":"","_kad_blocks_custom_css":"","_kad_blocks_head_custom_js":"","_kad_blocks_body_custom_js":"","_kad_blocks_footer_custom_js":"","_kadence_starter_templates_imported_post":false,"_kad_post_transparent":"","_kad_post_title":"","_kad_post_layout":"","_kad_post_sidebar_id":"","_kad_post_content_style":"","_kad_post_vertical_padding":"","_kad_post_feature":"","_kad_post_feature_position":"","_kad_post_header":false,"_kad_post_footer":false,"_kad_post_classname":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[465],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-10423","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-media-statements"],"taxonomy_info":{"category":[{"value":465,"label":"Media statements"}]},"featured_image_src_large":["https:\/\/afriforumjeug.co.za\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/Ou_Lettere_f_Tuks-731x477-1.jpg",731,477,false],"author_info":{"display_name":"AfriForum","author_link":"https:\/\/afriforumjeug.co.za\/en\/author\/ischkevaneeden\/"},"comment_info":0,"category_info":[{"term_id":465,"name":"Media statements","slug":"media-statements","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":465,"taxonomy":"category","description":"","parent":0,"count":226,"filter":"raw","term_order":"0","cat_ID":465,"category_count":226,"category_description":"","cat_name":"Media statements","category_nicename":"media-statements","category_parent":0}],"tag_info":false,"fimg_url":"https:\/\/afriforumjeug.co.za\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/Ou_Lettere_f_Tuks-731x477-1.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/afriforumjeug.co.za\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10423","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/afriforumjeug.co.za\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/afriforumjeug.co.za\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/afriforumjeug.co.za\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/103"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/afriforumjeug.co.za\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=10423"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/afriforumjeug.co.za\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10423\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":10426,"href":"https:\/\/afriforumjeug.co.za\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10423\/revisions\/10426"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/afriforumjeug.co.za\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1122"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/afriforumjeug.co.za\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=10423"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/afriforumjeug.co.za\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=10423"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/afriforumjeug.co.za\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=10423"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}