Durban - Students at the University of KwaZulu-Natal went on the rampage on Wednesday, damaged property on the Howard College campus and overturned rubbish bin in the suburb neighbouring the university as their protest over historical fee debt escalated for the third day.
KwaZulu-Natal police said that around 100 students gathered on campus and started disrupting the registration points on campus. They forced other students to join them which swelled the crowd to around 1000 students.
"They moved to Princess Alice Street (in the neighbouring suburb of Manor Gardens) and set DSW bins on fire on the road," a police spokesman said.
"Registration has been suspended. The situation is tense. There has been slight damage to UKZN property. Police have been deployed to monitor the protests and take appropriate action when protesters commit crime".
It comes after registration went ahead and continued as planned at the University of KwaZulu-Natal on Tuesday, despite continuing student protests.
UKZN spokesperson Ashton Bodrick said the university’s management would continue to engage with the student leadership.
The students were protesting over historical debt and financial exclusion, among other issues.
On the second day of protests, with students pelting security guards with rocks and lighting fires.
They also tried to set a car on fire at the Westville campus.
“The university is currently investigating some acts of criminality. The damage to university property only serves to divert vital resources away from those who need it most. Anyone found to be participating in criminal activity will be prosecuted,” Bodrick said.
Meanwhile, at Mangosuthu University of Technology, it was business as usual as students were being registered. The university said it had reached the 10000 mark of its target of 12500 students.
MUT registrar Mike Naidoo said: “Our registration success is a result of months of planning and finding ways of speeding up the process, which often means a visit to Seme Hall to identify bottlenecks and solve them.
“As it is, we have a standing meeting every afternoon to assess our registration process.”
Lectures at MUT begin next week and registration closes at the end of this week.