Violence flares up during student protest in S. African college

Police on Friday fired rubber bullets at protesting students, who were demanding the abolishment of Afrikaans as a medium of instruction at the University of Pretoria.

Several students were arrested as violence flared up, police said.

Protesting students burned tyres and threw rocks at police, who responded by firing rubber bullets in an attempt to disperse the students.

The protest spilled from campus onto nearby streets, leading to the closure of several streets.

The students chanted "Afrikaans Must Fall" as they marched from the campus to nearby streets.

Tehy complained that they were kicked out of the institution simply because they desire to see it encompassing and welcoming to all South Africans by merely having English as one language on medium of instruction.

The university management closed the Hatfield and Groenkloof campuses due to the protests.

The protests highlight racial tension at institutions of higher learning.

Earlier, student violence also occurred at the University of Cape Town (UCT), during which, a bus was set alight, the office of UCT Vice-Chancellor Max Price was petrol bombed and artworks were burned.

More than 10 students were arrested, police 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 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. Enditem