Police hunt

Wits #FeesMustFall leaders have been warned that police are looking for them

Details of #FeesMustFall leaders at Wits University being targeted by police emerged this week. They revealed that they are under constant surveillance and have narrowly escaped being arrested.

Student leaders described how police raid their rooms after midnight and chase them down on campus. “They want us to engage but they continue to target our leadership,” said an ANC Youth League member and #FeesMustFall leader. “We can’t even sleep in our rooms at the residence. Some of us had to move back home because police are looking for us each night.”

On Monday morning, an Economic Freedom Fighters-aligned student leader had to jump out of a secondfloor window of the Umthombo building and flee towards Braamfontein to escape police officers chasing her.

Wits students representative council (SRC) secretary general Fasiha Hassan said leaders have been harassed since the protests started three weeks ago, but police reaction had escalated this week.

“I was followed home on several occasions and I haven’t been able to go home. It’s a mess,” she said.

“This week another student leader was cornered by police and had to hide in a lecture hall. We’ve even been informed that the Wits council handed over a list of names to the higher-level police unit last week. We keep getting calls and messages to warn us not to go home and be aware. For now, it seems we can only be around spaces where there’s a lot of people.”

Wits spokesperson Shirona Patel denied the university was assisting the police in any way.

The police denied targeting student leaders but said they would arrest anyone who broke the law or incited others to do so.

A student leader who had been arrested said the police had raided his university residence room in the early hours of the morning at least four times over the past two weeks.

“I even have to make sure I’m not in my room after midnight or 2am. That’s when they usually come looking for us … to take us away in the night with no witnesses,” he said.

Eleven people were arrested this week and nine of them released on Wednesday. Two remained in custody at the Hillbrow police station on charges of public violence and vandalism — their release became a rallying cry at a meeting in Solomon Mahlangu House.

Students cheered when leaders announced they would demand that protesters be granted amnesty from police charges or disciplinary action.

But leaders appeared divided about how to respond to the police push-back. Although some argued that the police presence should be met with “militant resistance”, others seemed unhappy with the insistence on recruiting students to go to the steps of the Great Hall, where clashes with police were at their most violent.

On Tuesday, former SRC president Shaeera Kalla objected to 200 students leaving the safety of the Holy Trinity Church adjacent to the campus to join the fight against police on the steps of the Great Hall, after they were convinced to do so by fellow leader Vuyani Pambo.

“We didn’t agree to this. We can’t meet there because it’s a war zone,” Kalla said. “I mean, I can’t continue to justify doing this to students.”

Within two minutes, the church courtyard had cleared and within half an hour tensions at the Great Hall steps began to simmer as students sang struggle songs and whistled at police.

Mcebo Dlamini, one of the most outspoken #FeesMustFall leaders, watched as students broke apart concrete dustbins to use as weapons. “We are forcing them [management] into talks now. We said, ‘close the campus so we can consult on the demands’ and instead they brought in the police. Now we are responding,” he warned.

Moments later, as police started chasing students suspected of