Central SA
CUT students to appear in court today─── MARVIN NTSANE 11:10 Mon, 16 Mar 2020
A total of 17 students from the Central University of Technology’s (CUT) Welkom Campus is expected to appear in the Welkom Magistrate’s Court today.
The police spokesperson, Stephen Thakeng, says they will be charged for the contravention of a court order and public violence. They include 11 males and 6 females. They all range between 20 and 29 years of age.
OFM News reported last week that the police spokesperson, Motantshi Makhele, said the students were throwing stones at security guards. The guards then fired rubber bullets. The police tried to intervene but students kept on throwing stones and did not allow cars to pass. As a result, 17 people were arrested.
Makhele told OFM News that the students started protesting following an SRC member’s suspension for allegedly submitting a fraudulent medical certificate. Last week, CUT released a statement announcing the closure of this campus for recess following the weeks-long protests by students.
In the statement, CUT says management has been working tirelessly and had continuous positive engagements with the student leadership and key staff members towards ensuring a smooth start to the 2020 academic year. Further, these protest developments have resulted in the campus being unsafe for the continuation of normal academic activities.
In total, 84 CUT students have been arrested since the beginning of this academic year. A total of 60 students were arrested at the Bloemfontein campus earlier last month. They were all released on R1000 bail each by the Bloemfontein Magistrate’s Court. Meanwhile, earlier this month seven students were arrested following protests at the Welkom campus. They were all released by the Welkom Magistrate’s Court with a warning.
OFM News