Thousands of Cape Peninsula University of Technology (CPUT) students remain locked out of their classrooms with no confirmed return date, as a campus shutdown triggered by violent protests and an arson attack at the Bellville campus dragged into its third week by Thursday 28 August 2026.
CPUT shut all campuses on Monday 18 August 2026 after a building at the Bellville campus was set alight during unrest, according to News24. The university ordered all students to vacate residences by 16:00 on Wednesday 19 August, suspending all academic activities indefinitely.
CPUT spokesperson Lauren Kansley told EWN on 22 August that the suspension would hold until safety could be guaranteed. “For now, the academic programme remains on hold until we are able to guarantee a safe and secure campus environment for all who want to learn,” she said.
By 28 August, TimesLIVE reported that classes were still suspended and no date had been set for students to return. Kansley told the publication that CPUT’s learning and teaching division was still workshopping scenarios for making up lost academic time.
The shutdown began on 11 August when students staged protests over concerns including the proposed 2027 financial plan and related grievances, according to EWN. The CPUT Student Representative Council (SRC) said the shutdown would continue until its demands were meaningfully addressed and met.
The exact contents of the SRC’s full list of demands, including any specific fee amounts or policy changes, have not been consistently verified across independent sources. The precise cost of damage at the Bellville campus also remains unconfirmed.
Higher Education Minister Buti Manamela intervened on 21 August, with the Department of Higher Education and Training saying it would facilitate urgent engagement between CPUT management, council, and student leadership. “The immediate priority is to bring the parties around the table, establish the facts and find a way forward that allows the academic programme to resume,” Manamela said, according to SA News.
CPUT is the only university of technology in the Western Cape and serves roughly 30,000 students, many from Cape Flats communities such as Mitchells Plain, Khayelitsha, Manenberg, and Delft. The prolonged shutdown raises serious concerns about whether thousands of students will be able to complete the 2026 academic year, particularly those relying on NSFAS funding whose allowances may be affected by the disruption.
What remains unknown is when classes will actually resume, whether the mediation between management and the SRC will yield a breakthrough, and how the university plans to recover weeks of lost academic time. Cape Flats News will check with CPUT and the Department of Higher Education on Monday 1 September for an update on the mediation process and any planned return date.