Order has been restored at the University of Cape Town following Monday's disruptive protests, yet the academic future of roughly 1,400 self-funded students remains precarious owing to outstanding debt and registration blocks.

In a statement released on 17 February 2026, the University of Cape Town's vice-chancellor, Professor Mosa Moshabela, confirmed that nearly all remaining registration holds affect self-funded students. Of these, about 900 are postgraduates, 100 are from the Graduate School of Business and 400 are undergraduates, some of whom are still trying to settle their accounts.

On Monday, 16 February 2026, students handed a memorandum of demands to management that relate largely to registration holds for students who have incurred debt of more than R10,000, issues of accommodation and extension of registration to 20 February to allow students who are trying to raise funds to pay their debt and register, which has been approved by management.

While management has moved to assist those eligible for the National Student Financial Aid Scheme (NSFAS) and "missing middle" students (those with household incomes between R350,000 and R600,000), self-funded students have not seen the same blanket relief. These students are typically expected to settle their accounts or maintain a low debt level to register.

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"We recognise that some of them may have genuine financial circumstances making fee payment difficult," Moshabela stated. "For these students, we have agreed to review their appeals on a case-by-case basis,...