Jeanine Malan
Ongoing demonstrations at the Cape Peninsula University of Technology (CPUT) turned violent as protesters clashed with police and private security officials.
Protesters forced a shutdown at the Mowbray campus and set several classes alight at the Cape Town campus, as shotguns and stun grenades were used in an attempt to disperse protesting students and workers. Students and workers are demanding the clarification of the insourced worker contracts as well as the lifting of the suspensions of four students.
The protests began last Monday, when an industrial design workshop at the engineering building was petrol bombed and exams were disrupted. CPUT announced that all academic activities were suspended at the engineering faculty on Tuesday.
A group of protesters disrupted classes on the Mowbray campus on Wednesday. Hours later, the university issued a statement, saying:
“A security assessment on the Mowbray campus has been conducted and a decision has been taken to reopen that campus for full operations tomorrow.”
On Thursday, the Multi-Purpose Hall, an exam venue at the Cape Town campus, was allegedly burnt by protesting students. On Thursday evening, 28 “unregistered” security guards employed by CPUT university was arrested for fraud, SAPS confirmed.
