A Wits University student, who is believed to be armed with a gun, was holding a female member of the university's staff hostage in an office on the campus near central Johannesburg on Wednesday, police said.
Superintendent Chris Wilken said the student, who is 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 as a student.
Police have cordoned off the area around the senate building and telephone lines have been opened to allow the negotiators to communicate with the student.
The campus is crowded with students who have arrived for orientation and registration week at the beginning of the academic year but the normal business of the university was continuing with most people unaware of the hostage drama, Wilken said. - Sapa