NINE students have been suspended with immediate effect from the Tshwane University Technology’s (TUT) Soshanguve North Campus for their alleged involvement in a four-hour battle with security officers earlier this week.
The students – seven men and two women – were suspended pending the finalisation of investigations into allegations of misconduct levelled against them.
About 400 students attacked security guards and university property at the campus on Monday night, leaving several structures damaged, property stolen and four people injured.
“According to TUT student judicial services, swift action was imperative in order to contain the situation. Following a meeting with the campus director and continued investigations into the matter, seven males and two females involved in the incident were identified,” university spokeswoman Willa de Ruyter said yesterday.
De Ruyter said during their suspension, the students would not be allowed to enter the premises of the university or premises controlled by the university, or participate in any activities of the university. She said the only exception would be made with prior permission and authorisation, to allow them to enter the premises for the November examinations, or supplementary examination, should it be required.
Monday’s mayhem started when drunken students, some without their student ID cards, tried to force their way onto campus after curfew. When security officers tried to stop them, one threw a punch at a security officer.
The situation was resolved but later a number of students returned to the gate with bricks, stones and other objects. These were used to attack the officers, break windows of the security control room and break equipment. Boom gates were pulled off their hinges and a patrol car, belonging the security company, was pelted with stones.
“There have been fights, the students have given us a lot of trouble many times but they have never physically attacked us,” a security guard who was on duty that night, said.
Describing the four hours during which the battle raged, he said: “We ran helter-skelter, some of us hiding in drains, others stripping off their uniform as the students bayed for our blood.
“Some of the guards ran out of campus and into a nearby garage, where they hid and waited for back-up and the police to arrive, he said.”
Members of the police’s sector policing and public order unit arrived and managed to stop the fighting and restore order, and continued to monitor the situation the following day.
A case of assault with intent to cause grievous bodily harm was opened by a security officer. Besides breaking windows and globes and dismantling two way-radios and pulling out telephone lines, the students stole laptops, keyboards, CPUs and computer mouses. They also rummaged through bags belonging to the security officers and stole personal belongings.
Local student representative council president Ngwato Maile said hooliganism was rife at the campus and every weekend saw students provoking fights.
He said: “They walk across the road to any of the taverns there and get drunk, then they come back aggressive and spoiling for a fight.” - Pretoria News Weekend