African National Congress Women's League President Winnie Madikizela-Mandela arrived at the University of the Witwatersrand on Wednesday, where Education Minister Kader Asmal was negotiating with a hostage-taker.
A suspended student took a female member of staff hostage earlier on Wednesday in an apparent bid to be readmitted. Asmal had been briefed on the situation and was negotiating with the student by telephone, the university reported.
The student took the woman hostage on Wednesday morning in an office in the senate building on the campus in central Johannesburg. The man had apparently tied his hostage's hands with a computer cable but it was not yet known if he had hurt her, police spokesperson Captain Schalk Bornman said.
The student is believed to be armed.
A reporter on the scene said Madikizela-Mandela was on the campus, but had not been near the office in which the drama was unfolding. Police had cordoned off the area and were keeping members of the public away.
Superintendent Chris Wilken said the student, who was studying for a BA degree, had been suspended for non-payment of study fees and had apparently taken the woman hostage in a desperate effort to be re-instated at the institution.
The student had apparently also asked the university to write off his tuition fee debt. - Sapa