More than 200 angry students barricaded themselves inside their college in Mamelodi on Tuesday, burning tyres, waving banners and locking out lecturers in protest over alleged mismanagement.
Students from the Tshwane North College for Further Education and Training are demanding the resignation of the college's chief executive officer and the newly-appointed Mamelodi campus principal, as well as the closure of the campus's student support services department following allegations of mismanagement.
The students, who were protesting under the banner of the South African Students Congress Organisation (Sasco), on Tuesday said they were giving the institution's management two days to reply to their demands.
"If they do not, we will burn the buildings and destroy everything," said a student while setting alight a tyre.
Vincent Hlatywayo, Sasco's representative at the Mamelodi campus, said they were highly upset by the "blatant mismanagement" by senior staff at the campus.
Asked what the mismanagement pertained to, Hlatywayo said it involved the institution's finances and administration.
"We are sick and tired of being given poor services because 'there is not enough money'.
"We want the entire administration system to be overhauled because we believe that the students are being treated unfairly and are not receiving the education they were promised," he said.
Hlatywayo said if their demands were not met the students would embark on further action until such time that the college's management relented.
He said they had requested meetings with management but nothing had come from their requests.
"We are tired of trying to negotiate and are prepared to do whatever it takes to ensure our demands are met," Hlatywayo said.
Derrick Kayser, director of Tshwane North College Foundation, confirmed that a meeting that was meant to have taken place last Monday with the Gauteng department of education (GDE), the institution's management and students, had not taken place.
He said because of Tuesday's actions the GDE and the college's management would be meeting with students later on Wednesday.
Kayser said they were committed to solving the current impasse, "but the college will not stand for the intimidation of staff and students wanting to attend class".
"Should this continue we will consider taking legal action against those involved," he said.
Police spokesperson Captain Piletji Sebola said they were on stand-by and were monitoring the situation closely.