13/04/2020
13 April 2020
The Western Cape, Regional Students Representative Council takes this opportunity to extend its well-wishes to the student populace during these trying times. We are making this contact to fellow students, at a time when our beloved country and the globe are under attack from what has come to be identified as an invisible enemy of the humankind. We are at a time which a few weeks back none of us would have imagined for ourselves. These are indeed the times of fear; times of doubt; times of uncertainty and huge amounts of justified anxiety.
We take this opportune moment to call on our people to keep themselves and those around them safe. We invite you all to invest your trust on those who are leading at the front during these difficult times. We fully appreciate the fact that it is not easy, but our panic should not, at any point be allowed to make this time even more difficult to our frontline troops. We ask of you all to abide by regulations set out by Government, at the directive of the sitting President of the Republic. It is our compliance and adherence to the laws, as well as taking all safety hygiene measures that will make us all win this battle we are engaged in.
As of 13 April 2020, our country stands at 2173 Covid-19 confirmed positive cases. Of the confirmed cases, 410 have fully recovered from the virus, with 25 of the positive cases having unfortunately succumbed to the virus. The Western Cape recorded 587. These statistics goes to show us how much danger we are in, yet the number of recoveries should give us hope, that although this enemy is ruthless, working together to beat it is possible. We extend our condolences to all the families who suffered loss at the hands of this pandemic.
It goes without saying that, with the country being in a complete lockdown, institutions having temporarily closed, the masses of our people have a lot of concerns and questions regarding what the future holds for us; how are we going to move forward from here and how are we going to make up for the time lost. Perhaps the question the RSRC will attempt to answer, is what efforts and strides the student body is making to assist and support the university to deliver the service of nurturing academic futures of our people.
On the Campus Shutdown
The RSRC prides itself in that, the Western Cape was one region that was more pro-active in response to the Corona Virus pandemic. We applaud the Regional Management, through the Office of the Regional Director, for considering our call to immediately shut the campus on the 18th March 2020. We made this call out of a full realization that the Western Cape, Cape Town to be precise, has an international footprint. Perhaps it is befitting to say, we are the window to the international community, therefor, what happens across the world would quickly appear within barricades of our region. We stand firm in that, the safety of our people in and out of campus is a priority to us.
The Impact on the Academic Program
There is no doubt that, although our call was for the benefit and safety of our people, the current situation of closing the institution down, directly affects our people and a state of abnormality has been born. Our university may have been an Online Distance Electronic Learning; however, some resources remain only available on campus. We can imagine how life must be to those masses of our people who solely relied on campus study spaces, to Wi-Fi connection offered only on campus and other needs to carry out our academic commitments. We would like to encourage all our people, under difficult as these times may be, to do the smallest they can to remain in touch with their academics. This time requires for all of us to sympathize with the State, as it battles to protect us all. The decision by the Principal of our institution to declare a total shutdown, was more to protect us than to subject the people to unbearable conditions, under which we find ourselves in.
Efforts to be Put in Place
The RSRC is engaged in efforts to persuade, as far as it is possible, the institution to avoid a situation where this academic year is lost. Of course, the university will have to come up with an amicable solution, which most importantly adheres to the regulations that are in place. A lot of you are concerned more about how the Semester 1 examination will be carried out, given these circumstances. We have, through our National collective structure made contributions on the recommendations for the DSAA and Colleges to consider. At this point the process rests with their personnel and we are carefully guarding for the interests of our people, hence when such decision has been made, we will dissect it and evaluate the grounds under which any decision would have been taken. Should such decision be deemed contrary to the interest of the people, we will undertake to test our preferred approach and its reasons against theirs, and advise you, the people accordingly.
At this point we urge you all to continue working on your assignments and making submissions. We are aware and have addressed, the behavior of some lecturers who refused to extend submissions dates, in line with the announcements that was made to us.
Some of the NSFAS beneficiaries have began to receive allowances. It remains unclear how the Intellimali process will unfold, with Van Schaik closed, as per regulations and our people barred from leaving their households. This is even more concerning because, NSFAS beneficiaries certainly rely on those allowances to get data to access the internet for the academic work. The myunisa student’s portal is indeed accessed for free, when you have 1 megabyte on your phone, however, the need for internet access goes beyond myunisa, during these times.
We will tirelessly fight to fill the gaps, and at this moment we urge you to trust us with the advancement of your interests, while you study hard and prepare for assessments.
We wish you all the best and safety, during these times.
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On behalf of the Western Cape Regional Students Representative Council,
Sifundo Ndzube RSRC Chairperson
[email protected]
Silimela Nyikisa RSRC Secretary
[email protected]
