By OBAKENG MAJE 

The Potchefstroom College of Agriculture management is expected to meet with parents of ‘expelled’ students. This comes after the management was embroiled in a crisis with its students, which forced the North West Department of Agriculture and Rural Development to intervene. 

According to some students, who refused to be named for fear of reprisal, the college management allegedly expelled some in-campus students for ‘no apparent reasons’.  Aggrieved students said, the college management does not communicate with them timeously.

They said at times, they will receive information late at night. 

“We do have challenges with our lecturers. We do not have enough lecturers and we always receive our results late. There is no proper communication from the management and we always receive communiques late at night, which is inconvenient for us. 

“Sometimes we will not even receive communique at all and we will get surprises in the morning. Some students were allegedly being told to evacuate their rooms to make way for third students, however, they refused,” she said. 

Another student who refused to be named for fear of reprisal shared the same sentiments. She alleged that those students who refused to evacuate their rooms, were expelled from the college without any alternative. 

“Some of the students come from as far as Kwazulu Natal, Eastern Cape and Limpopo. If you are told at the 11th hour to evacuate your room without being given any alternative, where are you supposed to go?

“The management has created chaos and expelled some students without following any procedure. We need to stand up against this dictatorship and expose bad treatment we receive from the college. We urge the department to bring intervention and to consider our situations,” she said.      

However, the North West Department of Agriculture and Rural Development spokesperson, Emelda Setlhako refuted these allegations and described them as absurd. Setlhako further said no students have been expelled from the college.

“On 8 May 2024, the college management notified students residing in college residences that they would need to evacuate their rooms by the end of the first semester (i.e., by 6 June 2024). This measure was implemented to accommodate the final-year (third-year) students, who stay off-campus. 

“This was to allow them to attend short lectures as part of their Work Integrated Learning (WIL) program. Students staying in college residence were requested to evacuate the residence before 6 June 2024, and not to leave their personal belongings,” she said.

Setlhako added that students normally re-apply for accommodation at the beginning of each semester. She said in addition, students were asked not to go on recess without leaving their room keys with the residence officers, however, this request was not adhered to by some students.

“Despite the college’s efforts and multiple meetings with the Student Representative Council (SRC) and the students themselves, some students refused to go on recess and to vacate their rooms, which is against the policy. 

“Instead, they resorted to protest after receiving the evacuation notices issued on 8 May 2024. The policy states that no students are allowed in any of the student residences during recess, except the students who are on the Work Integrated Program (WIL),” she said.  

Setlhako said the same policy further states that students staying in college residences should be notified two weeks before evacuation. She said in this case, students were notified well in advance, as the date to vacate the college student residence was set for 6 June 2024.

“Due to the intensity of the protests and the burning of some college properties, a decision was made in a meeting held between the college management, the student affairs office and the student residence office that students who refused to vacate their rooms by the planned date and threatened the College Registrar and management should be evicted from college residences.

“Therefore, the reports that the students were expelled from the college are not true. It is the evacuation process that was implemented and the students were informed weeks in advance. Parents of students staying at college residences are aware of all the developments taking place at the PCA,” said Setlhako. 

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