Classes were still suspended at three Tshwane University of Technology campuses on Wednesday amid meetings to resolve matters, said a university spokesperson.
The university suspended all lectures on all three campuses on Tuesday following ongoing violent protests over fee hikes and academic exclusion. Beeld newspaper on Wednesday said there was “anarchy” as protesting students damaged university property and acted aggressively towards fellow students.
Glass doors were shattered during the protest and garbage was strewn over the Pretoria West and Arcadia campus, despite the presence of at least 10 police vehicles, Beeld reported.
“Classes are still suspended. We are now awaiting word from council on a memorandum handed over to the university on Monday. Senior officials from the department of education as well as student leaders are now in a meeting that started at 9am,” said spokesperson Willa de Ruyter on Wednesday.
On Tuesday, students from the Soshanguve and Garankuwa campuses protested outside the administrative building at the university’s main campus in Pretoria West.
University spokesperson Willa de Ruyter said at the time that the students were protesting over university fees as well as academic exclusion.
She said the university council had last year, with the participation of a student representative who sits on the council, decided on an average fee increase of 9%. This had been trimmed down to 8,5%. Students have since, however, presented the university with new demands.
Freedom Front Plus (FF+) student representatives, meanwhile, said they feared the protest had become racial and were to lay a complaint about allegations of hate speech, according to Pieter Janse van Rensburg, a student representative council and FF+ member on the main campus.
De Ruyter said on Wednesday that the university would continue monitoring the situation and was likely to release a statement later in the day. She could not confirm when lectures would resume.