UFS SUSPENDS ALL ACADEMIC ACTIVITIES AFTER STUDENT PROTESTS

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By: Neo Ntsele

The University of the Free State (UFS) suspended all on-campus academic activities on 14 October 2025, following student protest actions that had taken place on its three campuses over the past week.

The Qwaqwa Campus is closed with immediate effect, and students have been requested to vacate the campus within the next 24 hours.

This decision follows incidents on the evening of 13 October 2025, during which a group of students caused extensive damage to university property, engaged in acts of vandalism and arson, and during which several security officers sustained injuries and three remain hospitalized.

The protests are related to the introduction of a fairer, more equitable, and sustainable financial support system for ALL students as of 2026.

Under this system, academically qualifying students will be fully registered once their fees or funding have been confirmed.

All students funded by the National Student Financial Aid Scheme (NSFAS) will continue to be registered in full.

This will provide greater certainty about registration status and enable the gradual phasing out of provisional registration.

The UFS is the only university in South Africa that allows students to register while they still have outstanding fees.

The university strongly condemns the violent and destructive behavior displayed during these incidents.

The Executive Management Committee (Exco) of the university expresses its deep concern about the situation on the Qwaqwa Campus and is currently assessing the full extent of the damage.

The university’s Protection Services continues to monitor the situation closely to ensure the safety of staff and students.

The university’s academic programme was suspended on 14 October 2025 until further notice.

The Qwaqwa Campus was closed on 14 October 2025, and students were requested to leave the campus within 24 hours.

On the Bloemfontein and South Campuses, all lectures are suspended until further notice; however, only limited movement will be allowed on campus from 19:00 pm until 07:00 am in the morning.

The university’s Exco has extended an invitation to the Student Representative Councils (SRCs) of all three campuses for continued engagement on the issues that have led to the protests.

The university condemned the social media reports alleging that a student was killed during the protest on the Qwaqwa Campus as fake and incorrect.