Pretoria – Academic activities at the Tshwane University of Technology's Pretoria West campus have been suspended after fires were started early on Wednesday morning.
Students and staff hoping to write exit exams looked on helplessly outside the university's campus as fires raged on.
Deputy vice-chancellor Professor Stanley Mukhola said the fires were unnecessary as nothing had been communicated to them prior to this.
"We were all caught by surprise by students who decided to close the campus without informing us what the problem was. No memorandum was forwarded to us.Unrest at TUT Pretoria West campus. pic.twitter.com/Zs2e0Hphm5
— Yusuf Abramjee (@Abramjee) February 15, 2017
"I received a call at 5am from one of our bus directors telling us there were tyres being burnt at the gate. We advised them not to enter the premises," he said.
He said they had only recently been told they would be forwarded a memorandum by the aggrieved students.
Mukhola said he was not certain what the dispute was about, but believed they were related to student accommodation and NSFAS funding issues.