Violence at University of Cape Town escalates

Protesting students set a bus alight Wednesday and petrol bombed the office of the Vice-Chancellor Max Price in the University of Cape Town (UCT), prompting authorities to take legal actions.

Price told a press conference that eight people including six students have been charged for alleged involvement in acts of violence.

The six students have been suspended, Price said.

The students are members of the "Rhodes Must Fall" movement which was responsible for the removal of Cecil John Rhodes' statue from UCT's premises following weeks of protests by students last year.

Students demanded the statue removal because of Rhodes' connection with the colonization of South Africa.

Rhodes came from Britain to South Africa, where he founded the De Beers diamond empire and later became premier of Cape Colony in 1890. He began the policy of enforced racial segregation in South Africa.

Rhodes donated the land on which the UCT campus was built.

Last week, a new wave of student protests flared up again at UCT. The protests were sparked by accommodation shortage.

The situation escalated on Tuesday after protesters removed and burnt artworks from the university.

Police and security guards clashed with protesting students, but there was no report of injuries.

The protesters also destroyed busts and pictures that depicted white people.

On Wednesday, the ruling African National Congress (ANC) condemned the violence.

While the students' issues were legitimate and needed attention, being violent was not the way to go about it achieving anything, said Yonelo Diko, ANC spokesperson in the Western Cape Province. Endit