The students were reacting to a government announcement that universities can increase fees by up to 8 percent next year.
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The students later discarded their rocks and entered the building under heavy police presence, where they gathered in a hall seeking an audience with university authorities.
Unrest has hit many South African universities over the past year, as students protest fee increases that they say force poorer, often black, pupils out of education.
A short while ago protesters and guards pelted stones at each other, some students and journalists were injured during the confrontation.
Demonstrations on Monday and Tuesday are a response to the government’s recommendations to universities regarding fees. “About 200 students in roving groups are moving from campus-to-campus disrupting classes. and intimidating students”, Wits University in Johannesburg said in a statement.
“We are deploying security and the police”.
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. Blade Nzimande, the education minister, has said the demand is not feasible because South Africa can’t afford it.
“I don’t like to see the sight of police in our universities”.
The issue of education fees has ignited widespread frustration over a lack of opportunities for young people, worsened by a weakening economy and high unemployment. However, many students did not participate, reflecting divisions over whether to revive a powerful protest movement that challenged President Jacob Zuma previous year.
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Protesters also blocked entrances at the University of Cape Town, which suspended classes Tuesday and Wednesday because of the unrest.
