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Rioting students attack journos
17/02/2005 15:39 - (SA)
Pretoria - Pretoria police opened fire with rubber bullets and a water cannon on students of Tshwane University of Technology on Thursday after they stoned motorists and police, set fire to a police caravan and shoved a burning tyre into a guards' room.
More than 1 000 students went on the rampage at the Soshanguve campus shortly after 07:00, said Pretoria police spokesperson Piletji Sebola.
Standing outside the main gates of the campus - barricaded with burning tyres, boulders and cement blocks - the students began pelting motorists in Aubrey Matlala Road (formerly College Road) with stones, he said.
Police moved in, but were also stoned and opened up on the students with rubber bullets and a water cannon "to restore stability", said Sebola.
Police were forced to withdraw their soft-skinned patrol vehicles and send in an armoured Nyala to monitor the area, he said.
While this was going on, the students set fire to a police caravan inside the grounds.
It had been stationed there for the past month to make it easier for students to have documents and affidavits
certified - instead of having to walk or catch a taxi to the nearest police station three kilometres away.
"It was set alight and completely destroyed," said Sebola, who estimated its value at about R90 000. Police were considering putting in a claim against the Student Representative Council, he said. There was no-one in the caravan at the time. Journalists attacked
Sebola said the students also took one of the burning tyres at the entrance and pushed it inside the guards' room at the gate causing some damage. The security guards were outside at the time.
He said a reporter from Talk Radio 702 was manhandled and forced to flee, with a reporter and a photographer from The Citizen newspaper.
There were no reports of any injuries and no arrests had been made.
The university asked a 50-strong police detachment to withdraw from the campus on Wednesday out of fear the police presence could "provoke" the students.
Instead of withdrawing completely, the police - who had earlier stopped an illegal march by the students - opted to keep a low profile and monitor the situation from a distance. Police presence to be increased
That presence would now be increased, even at the risk of provoking students, as there was "no guarantee they will be calm", said Sebola.
"From our side, we really don't want to interfere with the internal politics of the campus," he said.
Police would be investigating two cases of public violence and malicious damage to property. If they were able to identify the suspects, "the law will take its course".
The situation at Soshanguve had since quieted down, said university spokesperson Willa de Ruyter.
The Ga-Rankuwa campus had also returned to relative normality with students back in their residences, and the gates open, allowing staff and students to enter freely.
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