A graduation is an exciting event meant to be a celebration of one's academic achievements. However, graduations scheduled for this past week were disrupted by protests at a South African university.
Earlier this week, members of the National Education, Health, and Allied Workers' Union (NEHAWU) disrupted graduation ceremonies being held by the University of South Africa (Unisa).
The university subsequently moved to postpone graduations until further notice to find a resolution to the challenges.
NEHAWU explained that the protest was caused by Unisa’s decision to pull out of a salary adjustment agreement with workers.
Unisa has since released a statement to postpone all graduations scheduled between 15 March 2022 and Tuesday 22 March 2022.
The university said, “This decision is intended to give space for management and NEHAWU to resolve the impasse and to ensure that when the remainder of the graduation ceremonies resume, they do so in an environment safe from any possible disruption and inconvenience to graduates and guests”.
Unisa has apologised for the inconvenience this has caused to the students and family members who were planning to attend the graduation ceremonies.
The university said that alternative graduation arrangements are being considered to cater for graduates affected by these postponements. Further information on this be will be communicated directly to the affected parties.
They added, “The talks between university management and NEHAWU are currently in progress and the university is working towards a speedy resolution of the impasse and a return to normal operations as soon as possible”.
