Roundup: Classes resume following weeks of violent student protests in S. Africa

Classes resumed on Wednesday in some of the universities hard hit by violent student protests over fee increases across the country, although not all classes were up and running fully.

Some campuses, however, are still experiencing protests including intimidation and violence, Minister of Higher Education and Training, Blade Nzimande said.

He welcomed the resumption of classes and urged all stakeholders to work tirelessly to save this year's academic programme.

A new wave of student protests erupted last month after Nzimande gave the green light to universities to raise tuition fees, provided that it does not exceed eight percent.

Dozens of students have been arrested for suspected involvement in acts of violence, including the burning of public properties and looting.

In some universities, police fired rubber bullets and stun grenades to disperse protesting students.

In the Cape Town University of Technology, a building was torched after students locked two security guards inside the building. The guards were later rescued.

"This barbaric behavior and some we have witnessed in some campuses is unacceptable and should be rejected by society," Nzimande said.

In the Wits University in Johannesburg, protests extended to the city centre over the past few days. During the protests, a bus was torched and shops looted.

The horrific scenes "is a clear demonstration that criminality has infiltrated student's genuine demands", Nzimande said.

This kind of behaviour only serves to undermine the legitimate call by students for free education for the poor, he said.

The Department of Higher Education and Training has been working with a number of institutions and stakeholders to try to find innovative ways for the resumption of the 2016 academic programme.

These engagements have proven to be fruitful, although some campuses are still experiencing protests including intimidation and violence, according to Nzimande.

"We are grateful for all efforts by stakeholders who have been engaging in a number of campuses. As we have said before, access to higher education, especially for the poor, is a societal problem. The only way to salvage the situation is commitment to dialogue," he said.

The minister said the government remains committed to providing free education to the poor, however this must be subjected to a process, as led by the Presidential Commission chaired by Justice Jonathan Heher.

"Government would not like to see our students learning under conditions where a police officer is placed at the door of a classroom or police roaming around our campuses," he said.

Campuses are places of learning not for policing, similarly not for violence, intimidation and destruction of property, the minister added.

He defended the move to deploy police at universities hard hit by student protests, saying the police are there to protect the rights of protesting students and non-protesting students who want to go back to class and continue learning.

On Tuesday, President Jacob Zuma set up a ministerial task team to assist in efforts to address the challenges on campuses.

Nzimande pledged to work with the task team and all stakeholders to ensure that "we do everything in our power to save the 2016 academic programme". Endit