University of Witwatersrand Students’ Representative Council leader Nompendulo Mkatshwa police fired stun grenades at students who had gathered near the university to protest against the proposed fee increase.
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Students and security officers pelted one another with stones across the plaza in front of the Great Hall on Wits campus.
In April 2016, delegates at The National Union of Students (NUS) national conference voted to take action against the NSS in the form of either a boycott or sabotage in order to show that the NSS is not a suitable method of measuring attainment and impacting tuition fees.
Students marched through the campus making sure that all shops are closed and that no worker is on duty.
The students, roused by the chorus of struggle songs, amassed outside Pietermaritzburg’s provincial legislature to demand free education.
“Our youth must be careful not to destroy their heritage, their universities which we must protect and preserve as institutions of academic excellence for them and for generations to come”. “If it’s not physically assaulting students, it’s raping [them] and falsely accusing students and getting them suspended”.
Several students hurled rocks at the main building of the university known as “Wits”, shattering windows, after they were prevented from entering by private security guards who retaliated by throwing rocks back at the students.
This hike has infuriated students, especially black students who are unable to afford the high tuition fee.
The protesters want free education for all students.
The South African Students Congress (Sasco) said ANC government officials lacked the will to implement free education and called the commission of inquiry a delaying tactic.
Classes at Stellenbosch University’s Tygerberg Campus were suspended.
The chaos in the streets around the University of the Witwatersrand in Johannesburg followed violent protests on the campus on Tuesday that forced the university’s closure for the rest of the week.
“That can only be decided at the student mass meeting”, Mkhatshwa said.
The violence featured prominently on social media on Wednesday.
Despite this‚ clashes between students and police and security personnel ensued‚ with a number of arrests and injuries being reported.
The University of the Western Cape said it had not yet made a final decision on its fees for next year. The crowd of protesters wanted the gate to remain blocked while EFF and PYA said that they wanted police out of campus.
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Last year, when the Fees Must Fall movement first shutdown the university, the university’s Senate House was re-named Solomon Mahlangu House after the slain anti-apartheid activist.
