Police fire stun grenades at South Africa students

 

South African police have fired rubber bullets and tear gas and set off stun grenades at a university campus in Johannesburg to disperse students protesting a government decision to increase tuition fees.

The clash occurred Tuesday at the University of the Witwatersrand, which had announced it was re-opening after closing because of violent demonstrations for free education.


The university, along with many campuses across South Africa, has been closed for at least two weeks during protests over tuition fees.

At least two people were arrested earlier when police moved in to enforce a court order on public gathering at the university.

The rally was the latest in a series of nationwide protests held after the government proposed an eight-percent hike in tuition fees last month.

The purposed costs are said to be prohibitive for many black students.

The proposition has further highlighted frustration at persisting inequalities in Africa’s most industrialized nation even 22 years after the apartheid racial segregation system or the white-minority rule was abolished.

The first wave of protests over the growing fees rose last year but it settled after the government froze fee increases. Fresh rallies were staged after the government said last month that the fees were subject to an increase.

University authorities across the country have warned that any further fee freezes could endanger their academic programs.