UniZulu protests: Satellite police station near university torched by students [video]
The students have called on the university, and the police, to increase safety and security on and off campus.
The UniZulu protests have continued, on Tuesday. with students from the University of Zululand calling on the tertiary institution to ramp up its safety and security measures.
UniZulu protests: What’s the latest?
The situation at the UniZulu Richards Bay campus has not improved much from the protest action that broke out on Monday. The students took to the streets, calling for the university to invest more in its safety and security measures after a student was shot inside one of UniZulu’s off-campus residences.
Today in the Early hours of the Morning one of our students was shot at University of Zululand off campus residences.We like outside communities to help us with this crime that is running on rampage directed to Unizulu students. pic.twitter.com/PzzyZAUXsM
— Gcwetha Andriaan (@GAndriaan) September 15, 2019
According to the protesting students, the issue of safety has been an ongoing problem at the tertiary. The lacklustre security detail in and around the campus has given way to increased criminal activity, where students are targeted in robberies and incidents of theft.
The protests have not garnered a lot of media attention, something that has been criticised by observers who believe that the sentiments would have been different if this had been at an urban tertiary institution.
The silence of media on the issue of the safety of the University of Zululand students is very loud. If it was any top notch University it would be all over the media. But since the Unizulu is a comprehensive rural-based university nothing is being said, ??
— Senamile Masango (@SenamileMasango) September 16, 2019
When will classes commence?
Due to the violent nature of the protests, UniZulu has been forced to cancel its lecture schedule. In a statement, the tertiary revealed that the decision to cancel classes came after it consulted with relevant stakeholders, including the Minister of Higher Education, Blade Nzimande.
It added that it is not certain, at this time, when classes will commence, since tensions between students and authorities remain palpable.
There have been no indications, at this time, of scheduled negotiations between campus officials and students.
Watch: Satellite police station near UniZulu torched
Things got so violent, on Monday night, that a satellite police station in Dlangezwa, near Unizulu, was torched. The footage, shared on Twitter by Orrin Singh, showed the police station burned to the ground.
There have been no reports of any deaths of injuries, at this time.
[WATCH] The #Dlangezwa Satellite Police Station near #Unizulu was torched on Monday night, local police have confirmed with @TimesLIVE. This follows violent protests which erupted after a student was attacked at his off-campus residence. Students are calling for more safety. pic.twitter.com/z9to1kBnod
— Orrin Singh (@orrin417) September 17, 2019