/ 11 October 2007

Students to march at UJ on Friday

A march in protest against fee hikes and police shootings will take place at the University of Johannesburg’s (UJ) Kingsway Campus on Friday, students said.

”We are asking for a peaceful and disciplined march; we cannot allow the police to shoot us again,” a protesting student said on Thursday.

The march will start at 9am.

Meanwhile, the Student Representative Council (SRC) was locked out of the Kingsway Campus on Thursday when they arrived for a media briefing.

Security officials at the gate said they were told by management to ”lock the gates immediately” before the students arrived.

SRC members then addressed the media outside the facility.

The SRC members and media were finally allowed on to the Kingsway Campus after being locked outside for almost two hours.

”The police have arrested and hurt so many unarmed students,” said Bunting Road Campus SRC president Mhlobo Hoyi.

”We are not only protesting against fee increases but are also fighting for the harmonisation of all UJ campuses.”

The SRC claims that the Doornfontein, Soweto and Bunting Road campuses were sidelined as compared to the Kingsway Campus — previously the Rand Afrikaans University before a merger of the institutions.

They also charged that students, mostly white, who played rugby, were afforded more bursaries than black students who played soccer.

All 43 arrested students who appeared in court on Thursday were released on bail and were warned not to enter any of the campuses.

Non-protesting students said the protests had caused serious disruption.

One of these students, who approached the gate, pleaded with security guards to let her in as she was late for a test. She was turned away and was told to use another entrance.

Another student said he thought the protest was ”just” and that the protesting students had ”all the right to hold the mass march”.

Students want to hand over a memorandum to university management after a planned student march on campus on Friday. — Sapa