Asmal probes Wits Tech demo
2003-08-14 10:49
Johannesburg - Education Minister Kader Asmal sent a team of senior officials to Technikon Witwatersrand on Thursday after a day of street conflict on Wednesday that saw hundreds of students arrested in clashes with police in central Johannesburg.
The technikon was shut down after the protests.
The delegation, headed by the education department's chief director of higher education, Dr Molapo Qhobela, is to meet technikon administrators and the student representative council to discuss ways of resolving the conflict.
The dispute centres on a new rule which forbids students, for security reasons, from having visitors in their rooms.
Students claim technikon management changed the house rule without consulting them. Management denies this.
Stun grenade used
Police were called to the technikon's Auckland Park and Doornfontein campuses after students, who had been protesting since Tuesday, refused to disperse on Wednesday morning. About 300 were arrested.
Most of those held were arrested in Jorissen Street while marching through the city to join their Doornfontein classmates.
Police there threw a stun grenade. At Auckland Park, dustbins were tipped into the road and tyres burned to block traffic.
Students at Doornfontein barricaded entrances.
The arrested students were expected to appear in Jeppe magistrate's court on Thursday.
The Doornfontein campus houses 602 students and the Auckland Park campus 1 200. A total of 15 000 students attend the technikon.
The institution has set up information hotlines for friends and relatives of students. The numbers are 072 424 3164 for the Doornfontein campus and 083 399 5975 for the Auckland Park campus
- SAPA