Calling for Meaningful Engagement, Student Representation and the Right to Lawful Collective Action

We, the undersigned students of Rhodes University, united as a student body and acting independently in the interests of students, hereby call upon Rhodes University management and all relevant authorities to meaningfully engage with the concerns raised by students regarding the 2027 fees protocol, financial accessibility, residence-related requirements, student debt and the academic and welfare consequences experienced by students. We believe that students must have a meaningful and effective opportunity to express their collective concerns and participate in decisions that directly affect their education, accommodation, financial circumstances and access to essential student services.

We acknowledge the existence of the current court order and do not call upon any student to deliberately breach or disregard an existing court order. Instead, we call for an urgent and independent process through which students can lawfully exercise their constitutional rights to peaceful and unarmed assembly, demonstration, picketing and petition, while ensuring that any protest or collective action remains peaceful and does not involve violence, intimidation, threats, destruction of property or unlawful interference with the rights of others.

We further call upon Rhodes University to engage directly and transparently with representatives chosen by the student body and to provide substantive responses to the concerns raised regarding the 2027 fees protocol. Students should not be placed in a position where expressing legitimate concerns about affordability, registration, residence, student debt, food, academic access or other essential matters becomes practically impossible. The existence of a court process should not remove the need for meaningful negotiation between the institution and the students whose lives and education are directly affected by these decisions.

We therefore call for an urgent, transparent and independently facilitated engagement between Rhodes University management and the student body, with clearly recorded proposals, responses and timelines. We further call for any restrictions on student collective action to be narrowly and lawfully applied to prevent unlawful conduct rather than unnecessarily preventing peaceful expression of student concerns. Where disputes remain unresolved, we call for students to have access to independent legal representation and appropriate external oversight so that the rights and interests of all parties can be considered fairly.

By signing this petition, we affirm our support for peaceful, lawful and collective student participation in matters affecting our education and welfare. We call upon Rhodes University and the relevant authorities to recognise that students are stakeholders in the institution and that sustainable solutions should be reached through genuine engagement, transparency and negotiation rather than through the suppression of peaceful student expression.

**We therefore respectfully demand:**

1. An urgent and meaningful meeting between Rhodes University management and independent representatives of the student body.
2. Transparent engagement regarding the 2027 fees protocol and its impact on students.
3. A review of the financial, residence and registration requirements affecting students with outstanding balances.
4. Meaningful protection of students' ability to express concerns through peaceful and lawful collective action.
5. Independent legal and, where appropriate, external oversight of the current dispute.
6. Transparency regarding any decisions affecting student food, essential services, residence and academic access.
7. A commitment from all parties to resolve the dispute through meaningful negotiation rather than escalation.
8. Written responses from the University to the substantive demands raised by students, together with reasonable timelines for implementation or further negotiation.