BLOEMFONTEIN. The QwaQwa Campus of the University of the Free State (UFS) were shut and down and students were requested to leave tha campus within the next 24 hours.
This follows students vandalising the UFS buildings on the campus in the Eastern Free State.
In Bloemfontein all lectures on the main campus and that of the South Campus were suspended until further notice.
The Bloemfontein Campus Student Representative Council (CSRC) says students are disgruntled after the University Management’s decision to end provisional registration for 2026.
On Wednesday, 8 October the CSRC on behalf of the student community submitted a memorandum of demands to University Management. When the UFS management did not meet their demands and on Thursday they took action shutting down campus operations.
The SAPS and Bigdawgz Security Company along with AfriForum were deployed to disperse the students.
Nine students appeared before the Bloemfontein Magistrate’s Court on Friday with two female students released on R500 bail each.
Seven male students were released on free bail, under strict conditions prohibiting them from being seen or residing on campus.
In a press release on 8 October Lacea Louder, senior director: communications and marketing at the UFS, said the university is deeply concerned about the rising levels of student debt and the impact this has on both students and the institution. A comprehensive review of the 2025 registration data found that provisional registration is not an effective mechanism to support students with financial challenges.
Each year, an average of 8% of UFS students register provisionally. In 2025, the majority of students who registered provisionally and signed payment arrangements were unable to meet their commitments: 58% paid no fees, while only 14% managed to settle their fees in full.
“As a result, most of these students would still face deregistration by mid-year due to unresolved historic debt. Notably, students who successfully converted from provisional to full registration did so primarily through UFS-funded bursaries, rather than personal payment.”
To address this, and in agreement with the previous Institutional Student Representative Council (ISRC), the university resolved to phase out provisional registration at the end of 2025 and implement a proactive, student-centred financial support strategy.
In reply the CSRC in Bloemfontein said they strongly opposes the ISRC statement on the discontinuation of provisional registration.
Louder said as part of this transition, no deregistration of provisionally registered students will take place in 2025 and an extended grace period will apply for 2025, allowing students to settle their outstanding balances by December 2025.
“In addition, the VC-ISRC Imbewu Legacy Fund has been established as a joint initiative between the university and the ISRC to create a dedicated vehicle for additional funding to support students at risk. A specific bursary allocation has also been created to assist academically qualifying final-year students in 2026 to settle historic debt, ensuring that deserving students are able to continue their studies and successfully complete their qualifications.”
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