Protest heats up at Wits

Workers and some students from Wits University have continued with their protest despite the Wits SRC pleading with them to wait until exams are over. A heavy police presence was present on the morning of 28 October outside Wits main campus where private security had clashed with the workers and students.

Four students and two security guards were reportedly injured after a physical altercation that saw one student allegedly being throttled by Fidelity security guards. A fire was started in the early hours of the morning where a book shop located on the east side of Wits was set alight, tyres were also burned at various points around the university but were extinguished quickly by Campus Control.

The university had announced through its website that they expected its academic programme to resume on 28 October but students who were attending, reported being threatened by protesting students with sticks for going to class. Some students said that they were going back home for fear of their safety.

However, barricades made up of bricks and dustbins were set up to block cars from leaving. About 200 workers chanted and sang on the morning. They said that they do not want outsourcing anymore. “We have been fighting outsourcing for so long, we want it to go now,” said one worker.

Wits University said that they condemn the acts of vandalism.

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The story behind Wits students’ struggle