Students are up in arms after the police allegedly fired rubber bullets and threw stun grenades into a crowd of students who were protesting late this afternoon. One of the students was seriously injured after one of the bullets him in the face.
A student leader who spoke under conditions of anonymity said that they were shocked at being attacked so brutally by police.
“We started protesting at around 4pm this afternoon because of the living conditions of the place where we stay and to our surprise stun grenades and rubber bullets were shot at us,” he said.
He explained that South Point, the student accommodation in Braamfontein, was charging them exhorbitant rental and did not service the buildings. He added that the protest was a combined effort of Wits, UJ, Rosebank College and Damelin students and was led by the student body of the EFF.
He pointed out that students were forced to share a room, meant for one person, and that the elevators often did not work.
“We handed in a memorandum on Monday and the management did not respond since, we want our problems to be resolved that is all,” he said.
The student who was shot in the face was taken away by members of the Metro Police. Traffic in Braamfontein came to a stand still as chaos reigned with stun grenades going off and students running helter skelter.
At the time of publication, police comment was still not available.
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