Free State and Pretoria universities back to class
by Staff Writer,
2016-03-01 05:44:03.0
CLASSES at the universities of the Free State (UFS) and Pretoria re-opened on Monday without incident, amid heavy security on both campuses. The poor pace of transformation, racial tensions, and labour-related issues have resulted in violence at many South African universities in the past month.
There have also been allegations of political party interference in student affairs.
"We had strict security on campus, with the assistance of the (police). There were no incidents of violence or disruption to academic activities," a University of Pretoria spokeswoman said on Monday.
UFS said its Bloemfontein campus was "stable". The university also denied that an individual seen to be allegedly kicking a protester at the rugby match was a professor at the institution, saying, however, it had handed over information on the suspect to the police.
UFS said on Monday it would move to combat purposeful defamatory and misleading statements on social media, adding, "Investigations are at an advanced stage to prosecute individuals and groups involved in such criminal conduct in the social media."
Minister of Higher Education and Training Blade Nzimande and his police counterpart Nathi Nhleko met student leaders and management in Johannesburg on Monday.
In a joint statement, they "agreed that the current destruction of national assets on campuses, that (are) crucial to the empowerment to the next generation of South Africans, must stop at once".
"As we take all these necessary measures‚ I want to stress that universities must and will remain open to dialogue with students‚ as will the Ministry of Higher Education and Training‚ but lawlessness of any kind will not be tolerated," the statement read.
Democratic Alliance (DA) Students Organisation leader Yusuf Cassim said on Monday the DA would be laying criminal charges against the Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) Student Command, following that organisation retweeting a message on social media, describing how to build a petrol bomb.
The EFF Student Command at the University of Pretoria could not be reached for comment.
TMG Newswire, Karl Gernetzky
Students at North West University’s Mahikeng campus. Picture: SOWETAN
CLASSES at the universities of the Free State (UFS) and Pretoria re-opened on Monday without incident, amid heavy security on both campuses. The poor pace of transformation, racial tensions, and labour-related issues have resulted in violence at many South African universities in the past month.
There have also been allegations of political party interference in student affairs.
"We had strict security on campus, with the assistance of the (police). There were no incidents of violence or disruption to academic activities," a University of Pretoria spokeswoman said on Monday.
UFS said its Bloemfontein campus was "stable". The university also denied that an individual seen to be allegedly kicking a protester at the rugby match was a professor at the institution, saying, however, it had handed over information on the suspect to the police.
UFS said on Monday it would move to combat purposeful defamatory and misleading statements on social media, adding, "Investigations are at an advanced stage to prosecute individuals and groups involved in such criminal conduct in the social media."
Minister of Higher Education and Training Blade Nzimande and his police counterpart Nathi Nhleko met student leaders and management in Johannesburg on Monday.
In a joint statement, they "agreed that the current destruction of national assets on campuses, that (are) crucial to the empowerment to the next generation of South Africans, must stop at once".
"As we take all these necessary measures‚ I want to stress that universities must and will remain open to dialogue with students‚ as will the Ministry of Higher Education and Training‚ but lawlessness of any kind will not be tolerated," the statement read.
Democratic Alliance (DA) Students Organisation leader Yusuf Cassim said on Monday the DA would be laying criminal charges against the Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) Student Command, following that organisation retweeting a message on social media, describing how to build a petrol bomb.
The EFF Student Command at the University of Pretoria could not be reached for comment.
TMG Newswire, Karl Gernetzky
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