The protest reportedly centres on the suspension of a local principal alleged to have assaulted a teacher last week.

Free State police spokesperson, Motantsi Makhele, confirms that just after 09:00, learners from Lephola, Teto, Thotagauta and Letsetse Secondary Schools, entered into protest action together. They moved over to the bridge which passes by Thabong from Riebeeckstad suburb. Makhele says the learners pelted cars with rocks and disrupted traffic before police attended to the scene, ultimately dispersing the angry crowd. Police reveal the crowd threatened to loot foreign-owned small shops, to no avail.

Free State Education Department spokesperson, Howard Ndaba, explains members of the department visited Lephola Secondary School in the morning to inform learners and teachers that the embattled principal accused of attacking a colleague, has officially been suspended pending the finalisation of an investigation into the matter. Ndaba says shortly after the officials left the school premises, Lephola learners then began to riot, demanding the principal be dismissed as opposed to being placed on suspension.

The learners moved from their school, disrupting teaching and learning at Teto, Thotagauta and Letsetse Secondary Schools.

Ndaba says the Lephola School Governing Body (SGB) will meet with parents tonight to chart a way forward for the school. Meanwhile, Makhele says no arrests have been made in the incident and police are continuing to monitor the situation closely.

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