PROTESTING students started a number of fires at the Bellville campus of the Cape Peninsula University of Technology (CPUT) on Tuesday, gutting the entry gate, security booth and the security control room.
Nineteen protesters were arrested and appeared at the Bellville Magistrate's Court yesterday.
CPUT spokesperson Lauren Kansley said three security guards, who had been locked in a burning security office, were treated for smoke inhalation. One also suffered a head injury. She added that two vehicles had also been badly damaged.
At CPUT’s Cape Town campus, the Centre for Professional and Personal Development was also set alight and badly damaged.
Police arrested three protesters, charging them with public violence, arson and damage to property.
National police spokesperson Sally de Beer said the police were investigating arson, public violence and attempted murder.
#FeesMustFall at CPUT released a statement saying: “We decry these acts as thuggery coming from rogue elements, who wish to hijack and appropriate the good name of our genuine struggle, with the express intent of making us lose public sympathy and credibility.”