Cops called in to UFS campus
2008-02-27 11:49
Bloemfontein - Police used a stun grenade to disperse a group of students protesting at the University of the Free State (UFS) on Wednesday during a protest march over a racial video.
The video, which was made at the hostel last year, surfaced on Tuesday.
Police spokesperson Captain Chaka Marope said a group of protesting student's broke away from the main group and rushed to the Reitz men's hostel where "some stones were thrown".
Marope said they were told that the gathering was illegal in terms of an interdict that was secured by the university's management during protest action last week.
Marope said he was not sure if the students were arrested or just taken away from the scene by police.
Once the group dispersed, a small group of students stayed behind at the main building of the campus in defiance against the removal of the protesters.
Marope said police would stay on campus to monitor the situation.
About 500 students, workers and personnel protested against the video and unions handed memorandums over to management.
The video shows university employees on their knees eating food which had been urinated on.
It allegedly depicts a mock integration of five black staff members - four women and a man - into the hostel.
It was made by the Reitz men's residence and has added to an already tense situation at the UFS after student riots over the university's hostel integration policy last week.
- SAPA