In Pictures

South Africa: University fee protests turn violent

Dozens arrested at Johannesburg’s University of the Witwatersrand during protests demanding free tertiary education.

Students demanding free education react as they are fired on by riot police officers during a protest outside the University of the Witwatersrand at Braamfontein, in Johannesburg, South Africa. [Siphiwe Sibeko/Reuters]

11 Oct 2016

South African police clashed with student protesters demanding free education on Monday at the University of the Witwatersand (Wits), which had reopened after demonstrations forced its closure last week.

Demonstrators hurled rocks at shield-wielding private security guards while police fired rubber bullets and teargas to disperse the crowd at the Wits Johannesburg campus.

Protesting students took to the streets of Braamfontein district, where the university is located, police said. Television footage showed several people trying to topple a bus in downtown Johannesburg and later set it on fire.

Demonstrations since last year over the cost of university education – prohibitive for many black students – have highlighted frustration at the inequalities that persist more than two decades after the 1994 end of white minority rule.

The current protests were triggered by a government recommendation that 2017 tuition fee increase be capped at eigh percent.

Critics have said that the increase would further disadvantage black students, already under-represented.

Weeks of violent demonstrations last year over university costs forced President Jacob Zuma to rule out fee hikes for 2016, but university authorities have warned that another freeze for this year could damage their academic programmes.

Police fired tear gas and water cannons at hundreds of student protesters amid a bitter national dispute with university managers and the government over student demands for free education. [AP]

There were scuffles between students and police at the University of the Free State in Bloemfontein, 400 km (240 miles) south of Johannesburg. [Yeshiel Panchia/AP]

A demonstrator holds a placard during student protests demanding free education at the Johannesburg's University of the Witwatersrand. [Siphiwe Sibeko/Reuters]

The violent protests, ongoing for several weeks now, have spread to campuses across the country. [Kim Ludbrook/EPA]

Students protest at the University of Cape Town under the banner #FeesMustFall [Nic Bothma/EPA]

University classes across South Africa have been disrupted by fee protests. [Siphiwe Sibeko/Reuters]

An injured student is attended to by her schoolmates after clashes with security at University of the Witwatersrand on Tuesday, as countrywide protests entered a third week [Siphiwe Sibeko /Reuters]

Demonstrations over the cost of university education - prohibitive for many black students - highlight frustration at the inequalities that persist more than two decades after the end of white minority rule [Siphiwe Sibeko/Reuters]

Blade Nzimande, South Africa's higher education and training minister, announced on September 19 that universities could increase fees for 2017 as long as they do not exceed the eight percent increase cap. [Siphiwe Sibeko/Reuters]

Students chant slogans during a demonstration at the University of Cape Town. The university has called off classes, lectures and tests as students protested about increases in tuition fees. [Nic Bothma/EPA]

Critics have said the increase would further disadvantage black students, who are already under-represented at universities. [Kim Ludbrook/EPA]

Students are demanding free education and denounced government plans to raise tuition fees by up to eight percent in 2017. [Kim Ludbrook/EPA]

Demonstrators say price increases discriminate against black students with low family incomes. [Schalk van Zuydam/AP]

The prestigious University of Witwatersrand in Johannesburg has been a focal point of protests. [Kim Ludbrook/EPA]