​Universities South Africa (USAf) has issued a collective statement from the vice-chancellors of South Africa's 26 public universities, in the Sunday Times on 23 October.

"We are writing to the South African nation to express our deep concerns about the threat of the current crisis in higher education on the sustainability and quality of our universities," the vice-chancellors said.

"The 26 vice-chancellors, speaking as one, call on all South Africans to work with our universities towards ensuring that the 2016 academic year is successfully completed in the national interest and in the interest of individual students and their families."

Read the full statement here.