Roundup: Student protests gaining momentum in S. Africa

South Africa's student protests were gaining momentum on Wednesday, affecting 14 universities across the country.

The "Fees Must Fall" campaign forced the suspension of classes and lock down of campuses in seven provinces, authorities said.

The students have rejected the proposal for a six-percent tuition fee increase announced on Tuesday by Minister of Higher Education and training Blade Nzimande.

More than 1,000 students from Witwatersrand University in Johannesburg have protested for more than one week.

They held a march on Wednesday, braving a sudden downpour under the watchful eyes of police.

A law student, Thato Zuma, told Xinhua that the fees are out of reach for many black students.

Wearing a T-shirt bearing late president Nelson Mandela's face, Sabelo Ndlangisa, a 25-year-old student, said, "We don't want the six percent fee hike, but zero percent."

A group of construction workers joined the students in the march which went on peacefully.

Witwatersrand University officials said the campus would remain closed until October 25.

At the University of Pretoria, hundreds of students took to the streets to express their dissatisfaction with the six-percent fee hike. All academic activities were suspended until the end of the week.

The protests were triggered by all major universities planning to increase tuition fees ranging from 10 to 50 percent for the 2016 school year. Some universities demand that students must first make the "minimum initial payment," the lump sum students are expected to pay at the start of each year, which they feel is "exorbitant."

The universities say they have to do so after the government cut education funding and scholarships.

The SA National Student Financial Aid Scheme (NSFAS) reportedly is short of 51 billion rand (about about 3.9 billion U.S. dollars) to fund poor students. Endit