Calm after the storm at Joburg varsities
Security’s heavy-handedness to be dealt with
IT WAS a calmer day at the University of Johannesburg (UJ) and Wits University yesterday after days of violent protests over fee increases. But it was not without incident.
An auditorium on the UJ Bunting Road campus caught fire. The university said it wasn’t clear whether the fire was caused by arsonists or an electrical fault.
UJ spokesperson Kaamini Reddy said they were alerted to the fire at about 1pm yesterday after staff members saw smoke.
“A screen, a projector, electrical equipment and the roof of the auditorium were damaged. There was no one inside the auditorium at the time,” she said, adding that classes were continuing as normal.
The media were barred from the burnt auditorium because police were investigating and gathering evidence.
Earlier, several UJ staff members held a media conference to address the alleged brutality of private security on campus recently. They believe the bouncers should be removed from the campus and appealed to management to do so.
Religious studies lecturer Shahid Mathee said he was pepper-sprayed on Wednesday afternoon by private security as he and several other staff members monitored student protests.
“It was quite clear that these guys (the bouncers) were ready for some action. At the time the students were just sitting down; they were singing and that’s all.
“It was clear something was going to take place here, they were in riot gear and a few minutes later they started spraying pepper spray in people’s faces.”
All the academics agreed that there shouldn’t be private security on campus and that other constructive channels could be pursued. Some students at the briefing accused UJ of victimising students taking part in #FeesMustFall, but Mathee denied that.
“As academics, we can’t speculate that the university is behind things. We are here to pledge our deep support for those who were beaten up,” he said.
Vice-chancellor Professor Ihron Rensburg condemned Wednesday night’s attacks on students and journalists.
He said private security had overstepped their mandate. “We deeply regret their actions. They have no authority to leave the campus gate. Given that we’ve had these terrible incidents, we must fix them. I’m deeply sorry for what happened,” he said.
Rensburg said the UJ security head was meeting the security company, and a report was being compiled based on the information received.
Several students and journalists had been pepper-sprayed and beaten outside UJ’s Doornfontein campus by private security. Several journalists were also threatened outside the Auckland Park campus by private security.
Meanwhile at Wits, yesterday’s poll for staff and students to find out whether classes should resume went ahead as expected with no glitches. Results were expected to be released today, and from there a decision would be made whether to resume academic activities on Monday.
Meanwhile, the planned meeting between Wits student leaders and several ministers today --- including Higher Education Minister Blade Nzimande and Finance Minister Pravin Gordhan, in their bid to take their fight for free education to the Treasury --- was postponed.
@Lanc_02