Wits University Vice-Chancellor Professor Zeblon Vilakazi has called for "cool heads" following student protests on Wednesday, in which a man was shot dead.

Mthokozisi Ntumba, 35, who had been visiting a clinic in Braamfontein at the time of the protest, died after he was shot, allegedly by police.

In a digital briefing on Thursday, Vilakazi said he was disheartened by the escalating protests over student funding, adding that the funding crisis was a national issue.

"I'm disheartened at the level of escalation that resulted in the sad loss of a bystander... It is the moment to pull down the rhetoric and to not allow protests to escalate further. I appeal to the university community and South Africa as a whole to allow cool heads to prevail."

Vilakazi added that the university would be entering discussions with the Student Representative Body to find a solution to the funding crisis in the sector, but added that the funding crisis was a national and even global phenomenon.

"The issue of student funding is a national, system-wide issue, which Wits cannot solve alone. The state and other social actors have a critical role to play in resolving this crisis. We need an urgent national debate on this crisis and our students need long-term, definitive solutions to funding higher education," said Vilakazi.

Student debt

Vilakazi added that student debt at the university stood at around R1-billion - almost double what it was in 2017.

He said that around 6 000 to 8 000 students owed Wits money over the past seven years, including some who had dropped out and others who had been academically excluded for failing multiple times and had lost their bursaries as a result.

The university made an additional R10-million available to students in a once-off Vice-Chancellor's Covid-19 Student Relief Fund, aimed at assisting those whose parents had lost jobs due to Covid-19.

This fund was in addition to the Wits Hardship Fund of R10-million, which was created to assist students experiencing financial hardship and who had historical debt (up to R120 000) to register and to secure accommodation, Vilakazi said.

About 1 200 students requested financial assistance from the Hardship fund, said Vilakazi, and 750 of these students who met the criteria had already been assisted. He added that around 27 000 of the university's 37 500 students were on some form of financial aid, scholarship or bursary.

"[The funding crisis] is a national problem. It's not just a Wits problem," Vilakazi said.

"We have to ensure that the university remains financially sustainable and that we continue to offer quality higher education."