By Kaya 959 News
The Durban University of Technology has set the record straight after thousands of students arrived at its institution to register on Tuesday morning.
Images that made their way to social media showed many students not wearing masks or adhering to any social distance protocols and jostling for space.
DUT said it appears that there were a number of unauthorised social media posts inviting all applicants to come to the campuses on Tuesday.
“Many potential applicants arrived at our gates, expecting to be registered. These persons were not invited by the University to register, nor given any indication that they were to arrive at the University. All along, the University has been using a strict Covid-19 compliant system where those struggling with our online registration would report their experiences via the telephone, and, where necessary, be invited and granted permits. As a result, all our registration venues, including the Sports Centre, have been orderly and Covid-19 compliant,” DUT said.
The university said the unauthorised social media and fake text message invitations resulted in a large scale influx of persons onto the campuses.
It said following the violation of the Covid-19 guidelines as a result of the campus invasion by a large number of people this morning and considering the related risks to health, safety and security, the University has decided to immediately suspend on-campus support for online registration. Thus, for the time being, all registration continues strictly online from whatever points registrants may choose.
DUT said it remains deeply committed towards successfully registering FTEN students who received firm offers from DUT.
“However, this process cannot be at the expense of the safety and security of staff and students and
contraventions of the Covid-19 protocols. The University will contact all first-year applicants who received firm offers to study at DUT but for whatever reason, have not registered as yet. We will directly consult with this group of applicants and advise them accordingly. On-campus support for online registration was specifically for first year students only,” DUT said.
Furthermore, when on-campus, online registration support resumes, if it ever will, applicants will be assisted Qualifying, registered students who also qualify for accommodation, will be assisted as well.
“However, the University will not be providing accommodation to those who are not registered to study at DUT, particularly those who simply arrive at our gates and then expect to be accommodated in our residences, even though they may not be accepted into a programme of study,” DUT said.
The SRC has also raised a new set of demands amidst all of the turmoil experienced today. The new list of demands must be raised with the appropriate structures most of which have been specifically designed to deal with registration, funding and accommodation challenges. The SRC is well aware of the process that needs to be followed in consulting with the relevant and responsible structures at DUT.
“We wish to reiterate that the University has very limited available spaces for study programmes relative to the public need for more spaces at DUT. So-called ‘walk-ins’ were not invited to come onto our campuses to register. The University advised interested students to contact the Faculties directly on the specific contact details that were provided. The contact details are on our website,” DUT said.
Prospective and returning students to please be weary of “fake” statements on social media, emails and text messages that purport to be official DUT ones. While all such are in themselves fraudulent, lurking behind them could be scammers promising ‘walk-ins’ admission to programmes and overnight accommodation for a fee. People must be aware of all of these sinister schemes. Those who may have been scammed this way must please report such incidents by clicking on this link: https://www.whistleblowing.co.za/make-a-report-steps/ or call 0800204134.
Current scenes at #DUT Sports Centre. Walk-ins
? Sakhi Nxumalo
“I, personally, don’t care about Covid-19 at this stage. All I want is to register and study,” says one of the young man.@TheMercurySA pic.twitter.com/TdE0eKFgxZ— Sakhiseni Nxumalo (@SakhiNxumalo) April 6, 2021
? DUT Sports Centre.
WATCH: Thousands of walk-ins from all over the county made their way to the university this morning.
? Sakhiseni.@TheMercurySA pic.twitter.com/DGXl87cjM1— Sakhiseni Nxumalo (@SakhiNxumalo) April 6, 2021
READ: DJ Black Coffee aims to raise R3m for students in creative industries
Picture source: @SakhiNxumalo/Twitter
