Johannesburg - Police have arrested 10 protesting students for blocking an entrance at Witwatersrand University, spokeswoman Shirona Patel said on Tuesday.
A group of about 50 students had gathered at the Braamfontein campus early in the morning. They allegedly prevented vehicles from entering or leaving the university, she said.
“They were asked to disperse, most of them did, however, 10 of them refused to move and were arrested for blocking entrances. Security has been stationed at all points. All gates are open now. Academic programme is scheduled to continue as usual,” said Patel.
Security has been tightened after students held a meeting on Monday night and vowed to shut down academic activities in protest against a 2017 tuition fee hike.
Police standing at the ready. Unsure where to from here. #Wits #Fees2017 #feesmustfall pic.twitter.com/C2JwC76gAA
— Ilanit Chernick (@LanC_02) September 20, 2016
Higher Education Minister Blade Nzimande on Monday announced that it was up to universities to determine their own increase, but that the increments would be capped at eight percent.
All NSFAS (National Student Financial Aid Scheme) qualifying students as well as the so-called ‘missing middle’ – that is students whose families earn above the NSFAS threshold but who are unable to support their children to access to higher education, would bear no fee increase in 2017.
He said the government will pay for the fee increase on their behalf, which has been estimated at R2.5 billion.
Many of the country’s institutions of higher learning said they relied on tuition fees to sustain themselves and pointed out that student debt had risen sharply since the advent of the #FeesMustFall campaign.
The dire situation was dimmed further by national Treasury telling the judicial commission of inquiry into higher education fees that there was no money to wholly fund higher education.
The ongoing inquiry was established by Zuma two months ago to probe free higher education funding, which culminated in the hikes announced by Ndzimande on Monday.
However, students have remained unshaken, demanding that there should be no fee hikes until government implements free higher education.
African News Agency