The Stellenbosch University management is committed to engagement with students, and various discussions in a variety of forums are continuing on campus. Due to earlier commitments the full Rector's Management Team (RMT) is not available this week (story posted on 20 October 2016), but a process is well underway to find a suitable date and time for a colloquium of 20 to 30 participants next week (the week of 24 to 28 October 2016).

Against the background of protest action across the country the management teams of higher education institutions have become the target of uncontained aggression. At some other institutions this week misleading reports on social media claimed that the particular management team would attend a mass meeting – however never confirmed – which then resulted in escalated violence and arson when management did not arrive.

Similarly, one-sided reports of unknown origin on social media have been claiming that the SU Rector's Management Team would attend a mass meeting in the Kruiskerk at 13:00 today (20 October 2016). This was not confirmed with management. The RMT will not be attending this meeting and has reaffirmed its stance that mass meetings evolve into shouting matches rather than dialogue, and have proven to not be conducive to finding tangible solutions.

The RMT has expressed its appreciation to staff and student leaders for continued initiatives, and has appealed to the campus community to help ensure that the coming examination is completed in a calm and safe environment. The response to the set of demands that the Student Affairs division accepted on behalf of Management is currently being finalised.