Costs mount as university protesters destroy facilities
THE total cost of damages to the University of Kwazulu-natal’s campuses continues to grow with each passing week as students continue to protest.
UKZN students have wreaked havoc across Edgewood, Howard College, Pietermaritzburg and Westville campuses.
Cars, a gym and the offices of the Risk Management Services at Westville; the campus HIV/AIDS support unit at Howard College and Edgewood; and an office at the department of student residence affairs at the Durban campus have been destroyed.
In Pietermaritzburg, a lecture hall, a kitchen, a guardhouse and building used for storage at the New Arts building were also set alight.
Then on Wednesday, the violence surpassed property when emeritus maths Professor Erwin Brüning, 77, a German national, was assaulted at Westville campus.
The attack was filmed and circulated on social media.
Brüning was grabbed by the scruff of his neck and dragged away from the road barricade created by protesters.
Ashton Boderick, UKZN spokesperson, was unable to disclose the estimated cost of damages to campuses.
Boderick said Brüning sustained a slight injury to his hand and had been provided with counselling.
He condemned the increasing wanton acts of violence, intimidation and destruction of property by students.
“University security, SAPS, and public order policing have been working day and night to bolster safety and security measures.
“We are also working closely with SAPS to identify and apprehend the suspects.”
He said the safety and security of students and staff were of paramount importance.
“But a number of students and staff were intimidated at lecture venues during the course of this week and staff were fearful. All incidents of assault, destruction of property, intimidation and arson were being investigated.
“The perpetrators will be apprehended and handed over to SAPS for prosecution.”
He said the violence only worsened the situation and added to the university’s challenges.
“Violence is not the solution and university management genuinely cares for financially disadvantaged students. We are making every effort to help clear historic debt to enable affected students to register.”
The university has been rocked by student unrest because they demanded that their historic debt that stood at about R1.7 billion be cancelled and they be allowed to register without barriers.
Students in debt have to pay 15% of that debt before registering, some having to pay tens of thousands of rand.
Provincial police spokesperson Captain Nqobile Gwala confirmed that investigations into the protests were under way.
Gwala said the most recent arrest was of a 27-year-old suspect who was arrested this week on charges in terms of the Explosives Act after he discharged a firework inside a Pietermaritzburg lecture hall.
Earlier in the month, about 14 students were arrested for protesting at Edgewood, Howard, Pietermaritzburg and Westville campuses on a range of charges from public violence to arson and damage to property.