DUT Shuts Campuses Down After Mass Gatherings of Prospective Students

Wednesday, April 07, 2021 at 2:43 PM by Reeshni Chetty

- The Durban University of Technology has shut all five campuses down due to safety and Covid-19

- The news of DUT's shutdown comes shortly after a mass gathering was held at the Durban campus

- The gathering reportedly revolved around fake social media posts about registration which resulted in many prospective students arriving there

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The Durban University of Technology (DUT) has requested caution from students relating to a series of hoax messages and fake social media posts resulting in mass overcrowding at the institution with no regard to Covid-19 regulations.

The University's Durban and Pietermaritzburg campuses on Tuesday was overrun and overwhelmed by thousands of students, many of who showed little support for Covid-19 regulations. The students were attempting to secure admission and register for the current academic year.

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Many headed to social media to voice their concerns regarding the incident, which took place on Tuesday. The university claimed that it had opened its doors primarily to first-year students who were unable to register online due to issues of funding and connectivity.

DUT shuts campuses down after mass gatherings of prospective students — The Durban University of Technology has shut all five campuses down after a mass gathering. Image: @Lucky_Zulu
Source: Twitter

A report by EWN stated that Zabelo Ntuli, DUT SRC President stated that the university had not planned appropriately for this academic year. The university has now chosen to halt all on-campus support for students, stating that it would get in contact only with those who had successfully applied for admission.

Speaking to TimesLIVE, Malwande Ndobe, South African Students Congress convener, said he wasn't sure who was responsible for the creation and spreading of the fake post. Ndobe stated that there are students who were not registered and that there was a shortage of accommodation.

DUT released a statement about shutting all five campuses down:

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Read some of the responses to the statement below:

Lungile Msomi wrote:

"This wouldn't have happened if the management did their job accordingly and the workers as well. They are so incompetent, causing unnecessary conflict between students while they sit in air-conditioned offices and do nothing watching students suffer."

Bonnie Cibi said:

"This response is irresponsible and lacks accountability from the institution. The communication which today is claimed to be fake have made rounds for the entire Easter holidays, why then there was no remedial action taken, why wait till today for a response?"

Mlu Mlungisi commented:

"Stop posting useless stuff. All we want to hear is the manner in which you going to deal with our grievances and if you fail we're going to demonstrate."

Previously, Briefly.co.za reported that DUT had condemned a violent clash outside one of its campuses. Students can be seen assaulting each other in clips shared online. They are reportedly affiliated with the EFF and South African Student Congress (Sasco).