University of Cape Town student Chumani Maxwele has had his suspension from the institution lifted by an independent tribunal.<\/p>\n
Maxwele was suspended from the university in May following an altercation with a lecturer over study space on campus during a public holiday.<\/p>\n
In a statement issued late on Wednesday, the university said the 30-year-old\u2019s suspension was lifted on technical grounds.<\/p>\n
\u201cOn May 7, Mr Maxwele was given a provisional suspension order because his continued presence on the campus was considered to pose a threat to the maintenance of good order. This provisional suspension order was made final after a hearing,\u201d the statement read.<\/p>\n
\u201cMr Maxwele subsequently appealed to the independent university student disciplinary tribunal against the decision to make the suspension order final. The tribunal today [Wednesday] heard the appeal and has ruled that the suspension be set aside on technical grounds.\u201d<\/p>\n
Maxwele, who infamously threw human waste on the university’s Cecil John Rhodes statue on March 9, was entitled to a disciplinary hearing 72 hours after a provincial suspension order was handed down on May 7.<\/p>\n
A hearing did not take place before the deadline of noon on Sunday, May 10, the tribunal found, and the final suspension order was thus declared invalid.<\/p>\n
\u2018Politics\u2019<\/strong><\/p>\n Maxwele had previously accused the university of using his suspension to achieve political ends.<\/p>\n “It’s a matter of politics,” he told News24 in May.<\/p>\n “We [are] dealing with a political problem at UCT. We are dealing with transformation … [and] they are intimidating us.”<\/p>\n University spokesperson Gerda Kruger said on Monday these claims are baseless.<\/p>\n \u201cThe organisations that claim that the University of Cape Town is acting in \u2018conspiracy\u2019 against Mr Chumani Maxwele have no basis for their claims.<\/p>\n \u201cNor do they have any basis for claiming that UCT has taken action to \u2018silence the voices of student activists\u2019.<\/p>\n \u201cOn the contrary, the university has extended a great deal of latitude to students and staff who have conducted protest action, including the offer of amnesty to protesters for a specific period during which they illegally occupied two UCT buildings and disrupted a council meeting.\u201d<\/p>\n The university intends issuing a new suspension order on Maxwele after June 15 and will then provide him with a hearing within the specified 72 hours.<\/p>\n Source: News24<\/a><\/p>\n \u201cTime for all whites to go\u201d: UCT student<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n Whites in South Africa \u2018are worse than Hitler\u2019<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\nMore on racism in South Africa<\/h3>\n