/ 17 October 2016

Curfews, arrests and a weekend of violence at Wits

Police arrest a #FeesMustFall protester.
Police arrest a #FeesMustFall protester.

At least nine people were arrested over the weekend, with one student from Wits University finding himself in the back of a police van bound for Limpopo. After the university announced that a curfew would be implemented on Friday night, Wits and the surrounding area saw more protests this weekend than any other during the course of the five-week #FeesMustFall action.

1. Friday night, the curfew begins
On Friday evening, Wits management released a statement saying that a curfew would be in effect. The university announced that the library and other facilities would be closed from 9pm-6am. Students who were not enrolled at Wits and those who were staying in the institution’s residences are not allowed accessed to the university after 10pm.

“Only people who are authorised to occupy University facilities, and those who are on official University business may be in the University precincts after 10pm,” the  university’s senior executive team said

“All persons who are authorised to be on campus after 10pm must remain in the specific authorised area until 6am.”

The student protesters’ response trended on Twitter under the hashtag #HabibsApartheid – likening the university management’s decision to implement a curfew to the apartheid police. Wits vice chancellor Adam Habib was blamed for the curfew.

“We are told that if you’re on campus after 10pm you will be arrested. Stay safe comrades. The system is against you,” the Wits student representative council said.

2. Storming the residences
On Friday night, students took to Twitter to vent about police raids in student residences. Wits university initially denied that police had fired rubber bullets into residence buildings, but students from Barnato Hall Residence said otherwise.

David Webster Hall residence shared a photograph of the bullets that were fired into the building, while another student said he was shot inside South Point residence in Braamfontein.

3. Braamfontein protest
While the residences were raided, protests had begun to take shape in Braamfontein. Vehicles were burning, including an SABC mobile broadcasting van, and the Orbit, a jazz club, was shutdown.

“The violence in Braamfontein is completely unacceptable. Why would one destroy the Orbit where Sibongile Khumalo was performing? Why would you arbitrarily burn vehicles if you are unhappy about the fact that the academic programme is continuing? How does the one enable the other?,” Wits university said in a statement.

Students at Wits maintained, however, that the scenes of destruction in Braamfontein were unrelated to #FeesMustFall protests.

Wits announced that nine people had been arrested. Two of the people arrested were confirmed to be Wits students, but the other seven people were not.

4. Mcebo Dlamini arrested

“Former SRC President Mcebo Freedom Nkunzikaybaleki Dlamini has just been arrested. We have been briefed that he was taken from residence after his room was stormed by police. He was not told why he was being arrested. We are in the process of putting together a legal team and will keep everyone updated,” The Wits SRC said in the early hours of Sunday morning.

The South African Police Service (SAPS) released a statement confirming the arrest.

“The arrest was effected as part of on-going investigations into recent violence, criminality and acts of intimidation,” SAPS said.

Dlamini, one of the student leaders in the #FeesMustFall movement, was arrested at the Wits Junction residence at around 1am. Police had previously attempted to arrest Dlamini during the course of the student protests at Wits. He was charged with public violence and appeared at the Johannesburg Magistrates court on Monday, where his bail hearing was postponed to Tuesday.

5. #WhereIsArthur and the police van to Limpopo
Arthur Muhamelwa was arrested over the weekend, but by noon on Sunday, students had no idea where police had taken him.

“Comrade Arthur Muhamelwa, a student on the logistics task team, was arrested earlier today. We are unable to locate him and are extremely concerned about him. We checked at Hillbrow, Jeppe and Cleveland police stations but he was not there. The last time we made contact with him he had indicated that he was somewhere on the way to Limpopo as he has just passed the NYL plaza toll,” the Wits SRC said.

#WhereIsArthur became widely discussed until Muhamelwa’s disappearance trended on Twitter. On Monday the Wits SRC announced that Muhamelwa had been found in Limpopo.

Both the Wits SRC and Wits university said that they were working towards bringing Muhamelwa back to the university from Limpopo.

6. Monday morning disruptions
Wits university said in a statement that protests took place across campuses in Braamfontein and Parktown. The university said that a security guard had been assaulted outside the Men’s Residence and his car windows had been broken.

Students also barricaded two streets in Parktown, with fires being set in Oxford Street. Police dispersed the students, with rubber bullets and stun grenades being fired outside Knockando residence in Parktown.

Workers also joined students in protests on Monday. The protests were spurred by the curfew as well as the further arrests that took place over the weekend, and the student demand for free decolonised education.

Wits has said that despite the disruptions it is continuing the academic programme. Wits’ revised academic calendar states that exams will begin on November 3.