During COVID-19, many students have lost their source of income or their parents have. Similarly their funding has been cut by either their bursary donors or NSFAS. This has lead to many students being unable to support themselves financially, not being able pay rent, put food on the table or buy necessities, let alone pay university fees.

We the students are not asking for the fees to fall away totally, we still want to pay for our tuition that is being provided for us. We asking for Facility Usage fees to fall away, as those labs, lecturer halls, offices and other venues are not being used. We are asking for Library and to an extent copyright fees to fall away or be reimbursed, as paper for notes, tests and exams are not being printed and distributed to students as everything is being sent online now.

We have calculated that facility usages and library and copyright fees make up nearly 5% of the total fee for THE FIRST SEMESTER ALONE

We are also asking for residence fees to be reduced, as students that stay is res, has not been able to go back to the res for nearly 4 months. Why should they being pay for a service that is not in use? Students are not even allowed to fetch their belongings.

We ask you to please lower the fees, and give struggling families some financial respite in these struggling times.