On 21 October 2015 NMMU students joined hands with other Universities nationwide and brought learning activities to a standstill.
The participating universities include Wits (under VC Adam Habib, UCT (Under VC Max Price), Rhodes (under VC Sizwe Mabizela), Tuks (under VC Cheryl Delarey), Stellenbosch (under VC Wim De Villiers) and NMMU (under VC Derrick Schwartz).
The NMMU SRC President, Hlomela Bucwa, issued this note to students last night via e-mail:
After intense discussions with Top Management we have come to one resolution that as students of NMMU we must unite regardless of the colour of our skin, class or background. We have thus demanded that management cancel all academic activities as of tomorrow 21st October 2015. As students of NMMU we will demonstrate our frustration to not only the institution but the government as well. We will stand in solidarity with students across the countries who have been victims of the present system. We have further called on the Vice-Chancellor to come and listen to our grievances on Thursday 22 October 2015. This is to engage with us in critical discussions that will provide an alternative to fee increases and the payment of fees as a whole.
We call on SASCO, DASO, EFF, NMMU students and student movements to come together under one banner. To put aside their differences and join us as the vanguard of students in dismantling fees.
We will all meet at 12:00pm South Campus Kraal together with different student movements.
This is not just my issue, this is your issue, this is our issue.
Kind Regards,
Hlomela Bucwa
Student Representative Council
President
Hlomela Bucwa, a fourth-year Law student at NMMU, was sworn into her position as President of the NMMU SRC in January 2015 after winning the 18 September 2014 election on a DASO Ticket. Bucwa is the first female president of the SRC since the 20015 merger of the University of Port Elizabeth (UPE), PE Technikon and Vista University’s Port Elizabeth campus saw the birth of NMMU.
In her prophetic augural address, the newly-inducted president highlighted how privileged she felt to be the one who could “turn the pages of transformation in South Africa”.
“We look to be a dynamic and transformational SRC that represents the best interests of the students,” said Hlomela in outlining the SRC’s mission and vision for the year.
The eloquent speaker also expressed her disdain at the handling of the National Student Financial Aid Scheme (NSFAS) by the university and lamented seeing academically-deserving students being sent home because they cannot afford tuition.
“This is not in line with the university’s humanising pedagogy in the classroom,” she said adding, however, that the SRC favoured an integrated approach which would see them work with university management.
This meant the SRC would, for example, also seek policy reform by influencing policies that are in the best interests of students.
DA Spokesman, Yussuf Cassim, congratulated Bucwa (See: DASO wins crucial NMMU election) and predicted; “We have no doubt that a DASO led SRC will make a difference in every student’s life on campus in the next year.”
Bucwa largley won the DASO Elections on a ticket of exposing maladministration within the SRC as reported here: DASO exposes maladministration of NMMU student funds.
Hlomela’s closing remarks at her inauguration as SRC President were:
“It is the mandate of the SRC to ensure that it devises ways to eradicate student challenges and serve the interest of the student body as a whole to ensure that the SRC fulfils its mandate. It is important for the structure to understand its background and provide strategies that will seek to remove the vast margins of inequality. Members of the SRC must also go back to basics by focusing on crucial issues that affect our students and the community at large.
Honesty, Humility and Solution driven.
Always remember the mandate… students remain central.”
Catch Hlomela Bucwa on Twitter or Facebook.
Alan Straton
Latest posts by Alan Straton (see all)
- South African Conquers Rats on the World Stage - 30 October 2026
- Old JPG on a Memory Stick? Vectorization Studio in Observatory Redraws Faded and Low-Resolution Logos by Hand - 30 October 2026
- ReAutomated Adds Robot Palletising and Case Packing Cells to Existing South African Packing Lines Without Stripping Out the Conveyors - 30 October 2026
- From a 5 KM Sprint to an Ultra: Punisher Sets Out Its Magaliesberg Obstacle Race Formats for First Timers, Teams and Fitness Clubs - 30 October 2026
- Rotary or Dual Action? Germiston’s Polisher Lists Its Machines, Buffs and Compounds for Car Paint and Metal Finishing - 30 October 2026
