South African police fired stun grenades and arrested 31 students in clashes at Johannesburg’s University of the Witwatersrand on Tuesday, as countrywide protests demanding free tertiary education entered a third week. Reuters news agency reports.
Nompendulo Mkatshwa, outgoing president of the student representative council, said police had fired stun grenades at students gathered near the university, known as “Wits”, to call for planned increases in university fees to be scrapped.
Police spokesman Lungelo Dlamini said the arrested students “were blocking the entrance of the university in contravention of the court order” and were being held at a nearby station
The current protests were triggered by a government recommendation that 2017 university tuition fee increases be capped at 8 percent. The cap is higher than South Africa’s current inflation rate of 6 per cent.
“Students are not happy with what the Department of Higher Education and Training said, so they are fighting for equal education,” Mkatshwa said. Reports Reuters
Students have been tweeting from the University
#Wits #Fees2017 pic.twitter.com/le9FmDLuQI
— Lindokuhle Xulu (@LindokuhlXulu1) September 20, 2016
Students celebrate their victory of gaining access into Solomon Mahlangu house. #Fees2017 #Wits pic.twitter.com/OtsPgY4th6
— Lindokuhle Xulu (@LindokuhlXulu1) September 20, 2016
Students have now arrived at main campus. The group is still being escorted by the police#Wits #Fees2017 pic.twitter.com/UxYKLzuVXx
— Ayanda Mgede (@Ayanda1001) September 20, 2016
Armed policemen waiting for students to clear but the protestors are not moving #Fees2017 pic.twitter.com/xDt8gadbJi
— Ayanda Mgede (@Ayanda1001) September 20, 2016
#Fees2017 this is what the entrance of the great hall looks like. CM pic.twitter.com/yocpZNzvwE
— EWN Reporter (@ewnreporter) September 20, 2016
