The senior leadership of the University of the Free State welcomes the announcement made this afternoon by President Jacob Zuma about a 0% increase in tuition fees for 2016.

“We support the announcement by President Zuma, after consultation with university leaders. This will provide enormous relief for struggling students and their families across the three campuses. We now look forward to the details of how universities will be supported financially to enable this to happen,” says Prof Jansen.

The university leadership commends the vast majority of students for their disciplined behaviour and commitment during this period and hope to build on this momentum to contribute to the further transformation of the university and higher education sector.

The court interdict obtained on 21 October 2015 has been withdrawn. “We would like to take the opportunity to thank the South African Police Service (SAPS) and our own staff for their unwavering support and cooperation during this week, especially those staff who performed essential services,” says Prof Jansen.

Academic and administrative activities will resume on all three campuses of the UFS as from Monday 26 October 2015.