Dear Campus Community

I am once again pleased to be able to report that exams proceeded without incident today and that more than 70% of eligible students wrote exams this morning.

Things were quiet on campus today. The majority of residence students who are not writing exams, have now returned home.  There are currently only a small percentage of residence students who are still on campus. Staff continued to place final year students and students completing courses, in off-campus facilities and also helped students who required assistance, to return home. This continues to be a very complex process, requiring attention to students’ individual logistical needs and I want to thank staff who is working hard to assist our residence students. I also want to express sincere appreciation to our residence students for their cooperation, despite being inconvenienced as a result of this move.

Campus will be open on Monday. Please note that there will still be a security presence on campus and students and staff will be required to show their student or staff cards at the various access points. The library and computer laboratory facilities will also be open for students who are preparing for exams and for postgraduate students who require use of these facilities.

As a University community we are now under pressure to conclude a number of important academic and administrative processes before the end of the year and to finalise preparations for the 2016 intake.

Please note that we have not yet started the process of cleaning the campus and repairing damaged and vandalised buildings. Due to the extent of the damage and the fact that the construction industry is approaching their end-of-year break, this will require a well-coordinated process to meet very tight deadlines. This process is likely to cause some inconvenience and we therefore ask for your understanding and patience.

Best wishes to the students who are writing exams tomorrow and we look forward to welcoming staff back on campus next week.

Yours sincerely

Prof Tyrone Pretorius

Rector and Vice-Chancellor