Cape Town - Tension - as well as the number of protesters - grew outside the Rondebosch police station on Tuesday as the University of Cape Town student-led protests over planned fee increases continued to gather momentum.
“They will probably throw stun grenades at you and fire rubber bullets but do not disperse! Do not move!” shouted one of the march leaders, Dudu Ndlovu, over a loudhailer.
She was separated from the rest of the protest group by the police station’s fencing.
About 200 University of Cape Town students as well as workers and academic staff stood outside shouting “Arrest us! Arrest us!”.
[WARNING: STRONG LANGUAGE]
Students parked at various places on campus have not been allowed to leave campus.
Posted by UCT Radio 104.5fm on Monday, 19 October 2015
They were calling on police to release fellow protesters who were arrested for refusing to vacate UCT’s administration building, Bremner, on Tuesday morning.
Students and workers had occupied the building to protest against proposed 2016 fee increases and the outsourcing of labour at the institution.
It had not yet been confirmed what the detained protesters had been charged with or when they would be released.
March leader, Chumani Maxwele - the man credited with sparking the earlier #Rhodesmustfall student uprising at UCT - made it clear they would not move if their comrades remained behind bars.
“Arrest us!” he said, banging on the fence.
Police, dressed in riot gear, remained unmoved, as they continued to monitor the chanting students outside.
African News Agency
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