Cape Town - Nine University of Cape Town students were arrested on Tuesday morning following a protest against a proposed increase in fees that started on Monday.
Police arrested some of the students who burnt tyres and barricaded entrances to the campus on Tuesday morning.
UCT management said that due to the protest, all classes were suspended until further notice and the Upper, Middle and Lower Campus were inaccessible on Tuesday morning.
* At Stellenbosch University some protesters occupied an administration block on Tuesday morning.
* Students also protested at Rhodes University in the Eastern Cape. Rhodes will still be shut down for the next two days, apparently to give government time to adress the issue of increased fees.
*Students at Fort Hare in the Eastern Cape also came out in protest again on Tuesday.
* Cape Peninsula University of Technology was due to hold a students and workers mass meeting at 1pm on Tuesday, possibly with an eye to joining the protests.
* Students at the University of Pretoria have planned to start protesting on Wednesday.
* Students at Witwatersrand University began shutting down the institution over proposed fee increase last week. Wits remains closed.
Police spokeswoman Constable Noloyiso Rwexana confirmed that nine UCT students were arrested on Tuesday morning.
“One female and eight males were arrested for contravening the protection order the university obtained against the protest. More arrests are imminent.”
Besides setting up barricades, some students and university workers marched around campus, going from one dining hall to another, asking more students to join them.
On Monday night, a number of protest movements at the university were served with a court order from the Western Cape High Court which comes into effect on Tuesday.
On Tuesday morning UCT Sasco branch chairman Siyabonga Ntombela said: “This is a national issue and we're protesting peacefully. If the police want to arrest us they should keep doing so, until there's no one to arrest. We won't stop until management responds to our demands.”
However not all the students at UCT were happy with what was happening.
UCT student Siphokazi Ngxabazi said: “I prepared for a test I was supposed to write this morning, only to be told it's been postponed. It's really sad because the marks we're losing means we won't have a good DP (duly performed) to allow us to write the final exams.”
Another student Monique Gosai added: “What's irritating about the protest is that those who want to teach and those that want to learn are being prevented from doing so.
“It's a scary feeling because we won't have enough time to prepare for final exams.”
Cape Argus
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