After a year of ongoing Fees Must Fall protests, Johannesburg, South African students and police met head-on during the reopening of University of the Witwatersrand Monday, Oct. 10.
CCTV Africa reports that Wits University was set to reopen Monday after a maelstrom of protests led to a school closure last week. But recent protests prevented that. While reporters say the protests were initially peaceful, police and students ultimately clashed.
In the clip, protesters can been seen throwing rocks and projectiles at police. Then, officers return fire launching teargas and shooting rubber bullets as students fled.
“The chancellor must come down and shoot us himself,” a female protester says.” He needs to stop hiring Black men to shoot at us.”
According to an Oct. 11 CNN report, hundreds of protesters marched to the Wits University Great Hall in an attempt to enter to speak to school officials about rising fees. However, the doors remained shut.
“It is something that the youth has been calling for over 20 years now. We want more Black students to be able to come to university and to have a better chance of participating in the economy,” said Busisiwe Seabe, a leader of the Fees Must Fall movement at the University of the Witwatersrand (Wits).
