Students protest peacefully

2010-03-05 12:10

Polokwane - Students were protesting peacefully at the University of Limpopo on Friday morning, police reported.

"It is calm. The police are monitoring the situation but so far there has been no need to interfere," said Superintendent Ronel Otto.

Several demonstrations were held at campuses countrywide on Thursday, organised by the SA Students Congress (Sasco) to press for free tertiary education.

The University of Johannesburg, where students on Thursday morning barricaded entrances to the Bunting road campus, was quiet on Friday, said police spokesperson Captain Julia Claassen.

Business as usual

Meanwhile in Pretoria, the Tshwane University of Technology (TUT) also reported business as usual.

"I am aware that some media are reporting that Sasco has informed them that today’s [Friday's] protest will focus on Parliament as well as TUT," said university spokesperson Gilbert Mokwatedi.

"So far (this morning), we have not had any incident reported from our different campuses. Should Sasco engage in any protest action on any of our campuses, we hope they will do that in a peaceful and disciplined manner."

The students' organisation was expected to march to Parliament in Cape Town at noon.

Sasco said it was unhappy because President Jacob Zuma paid little attention to education in his State of the Nation address.

- SAPA