THE Police’s Public Order Policing unit has used stun grenades and rubber bullets to disperse a crowd of matric students who held teachers and pupils hostage at the Ntsika Secondary School in Grahamstown. The 300 matric pupils had barred the entrance to the school to demand R5000 for their matric farewell party, and threw rocks and pipes at the police and the media. Dressed in riot gear and armed with shotguns loaded with low-velocity rubber bullets, about 25 policemen stormed the gates to rescue teachers and pupils who were effectively trapped inside the school. Public telephone booths had been smashed in the school corridors and classroom windows had been broken. Two Grade 12 pupils were arrested for inciting public violence, but no injuries were reported. A Grahamstown District Education Department official said the issue began as a demand for R5000 for a matric farewell party but had escalated into “something no-one understands”.