TUT Polokwane and UL students join nationwide fee protest
Students from the Tshwane University of Technology (TUT) Polokwane campus and the University of Limpopo have joined the nationwide protests over fee hikes
POLOKWANE – Students from the Tshwane University of Technology (TUT) Polokwane campus and the University of Limpopo (UL) have joined the nationwide protests over fee hikes.
The protests come a week after the University of the Witwatersrand (Wits) began their protest over the 10.5% fee increment for next year’s tuition.
Institutions such as University of Cape Town, Rhodes University, University of Pretoria and Stellenbosch University joined in the protests, shutting down the respective campuses.
Hashtags such as #FeesMustFall, #NationalShutdown, #WitsFeesMustFall have been trending for days on social media.
At the TUT Polokwane campus, lectures were disrupted as the protests continued.
#TUTPolokwane is locked up. Students are protesting inside but no media is allowed in for security purposes pic.twitter.com/8fqx27LEVU
— Raeesa (@raeesakimmie) October 21, 2015
Lecturers have left campus. Students are protesting inside. #NationalShutDown #TUTPolokwane
— Raeesa (@raeesakimmie) October 21, 2015
Angry students from the University of Limpopo closed a shopping complex in Mankweng zone 1 and as they moved to close Paledi Mall, business owners in the area who feared for their safety, called the police for assistance.
University of Limpopo Shutdown. Exams have been called off #NationalShutDown pic.twitter.com/LfctjRLZze
— SASCO NEC (@SASCO_Jikelele) October 21, 2015
The students refused to give their cooperation when the police arrived and the police had to fire rubber bullets to disperse the crowd.
Mankweng police spokesperson, Const Matimba Maluleke, confirmed that the situation was calm and there were no injuries.
“No arrests have been made and the police are on campus to monitor the situation,” Maluleke said.
