Port Elizabeth – Just a week after lectures at the Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University (NMMU) commenced for the 2017 academic year a building at the university's South Campus has been petrol bombed.
Port Elizabeth police are investigating a case of arson after the building was petrol bombed and vandalised over the weekend. Eastern Cape police spokesman Captain Johan Rheeder said the entrance of a procurement building at NMMU's South Campus was damaged during the incident late on Saturday night.
Police were still at the scene on Sunday morning. Police discovered two more petrol bombs at the scene and graffiti on the walls proclaimed "The ANC Must Fall", "Zuma Must Fall", and "Fees Must Fall".
Rheeder said a bag filled with stones was also thrown through the glass doors. No arrests had yet been made. At a welcoming ceremony last month, NMMU vice-chancellor Derrick Swartz told students and parents that it was not possible for "fees to fall" and that he could not give students a free education.
Swartz said the university would not tolerate violent protests and vowed there would be no shutdown of the university. NMMU decided last year on an eight percent fee increase for 2017.