In photos: Police and protesters clash at University of Johannesburg

| Photos and text by Juliette Garms

Despite what appeared to be a promising joint statement yesterday morning by University of Johannesburg (UJ) management and trade union Nehawu, tension escalated through the day on campus, culminating in police using force to disperse demonstrators.

The joint statement said that UJ was committed to ‘ending all outsourcing arrangements.’ The statement further said:

The University briefed NEHAWU on the establishment of a Task Team of key stakeholders to develop a plan to enable the University to insource service staff at the very earliest opportunity, and that work has begun.

The meeting noted that in light of the urgency of the matter, the first meeting of this Task Team is scheduled for 6 November 2015. Both parties agreed that this work is extremely important, and that this must be accelerated and be completed by end-February 2016. NEHAWU and UJ also committed themselves to the decent work agenda, and agreed that insourcing should result in a significant improvement in the standard of living of the workers concerned.​

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Workers and students marched on campus at the beginning of the afternoon, asking for the end to outsourcing and a wage increase for workers.

Margaret Chauke is a cleaner at UJ. She is employed by a company called Elite. “I am angry against our company,” she said. “R2,600 is not enough. I have two children at school. I have to pay for rent, transport and food. What can R2,600 do for me? I spend more than R1,500 just on food.”

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As they walked on campus, workers and students emptied the bins on the floor.

At least one of the workers GroundUp spoke to expressed frustration with Nehawu, their union. As the day proceeded, the workers became increasingly frustrated that the vice-chancellor would not meet them.

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The police were on campus and following the march closely. In the photo above, protesters asked the police to leave.

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After the march, workers and students gathered at Madibeng building, location of the university’s council chambers.

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Police then began to disperse the protesters.

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Protesters ran away from police. In the photo, police and security guards drag a student on the ground.

TOPICS:  Education

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