Thirteen students were arrested at the University of the Free State (UFS) on Tuesday for contravening a court order.
Police spokesperson Captain Chaka Marope said they were taken into custody on the Bloemfontein campus at about 8am after they disrupted classes.
”They were arrested after intimidating conduct which was prohibited by a court interdict.”
In terms of the interdict, students may not interfere with the activities of other students, Marope said.
The Bloemfontein campus has been experiencing tensions after a racist video surfaced last week. It features black university employees on their knees eating food which had apparently been urinated on by a white student.
The video depicts a mock initiation of five staff members into hostel activities, and refers to the university’s diversity policy for campus residences announced in 2007.
Marope said the police were still keeping watch on the campus.
Earlier on Tuesday, the university said it was compiling a charge sheet for internal disciplinary steps against two of the students who made the video.
UFS spokesperson Anton Fisher said rector Frederick Fourie was in the process of appointing a disciplinary committee.
”When this charge sheet is finalised, it will be made available to the students’ legal representative.”
Fisher said a date for an internal disciplinary hearing would be arranged once the charge sheet had been handed to the students’ lawyer.
The university’s lawyer informed the students’ legal team on Monday that a charge sheet was being drawn up.
Fisher said this was done in writing and no meeting took place between the lawyers of the two parties. – Sapa