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UFS Assesses Qwaqwa Damage After Protests as 2026 Registration Policy Standoff Deepens

Officials are assessing Qwaqwa damage following clashes, with lectures suspended across campuses.

Overview

  • University management closed the Qwaqwa campus, ordered students to vacate within 24 hours, and imposed a 19:00–07:00 curfew, while suspending lectures at the Bloemfontein and South campuses.
  • Police confirmed investigations into malicious damage to property after windows were broken and buildings were torched during the unrest at Qwaqwa.
  • UFS is ending provisional registration in 2026, requiring confirmed funding for full registration and setting a historic-debt threshold of R30,000 for students to qualify.
  • Student representative bodies reject the policy as exclusionary, demanded reinstatement of provisional registration and a R50,000 debt cap, and continue protests and petitions after talks stalled.
  • The Parliamentary Portfolio Committee condemned reported brutality by private security against students and urged accountability and proper consultation on access-related decisions.