Students want exams deferred

A registra was held hostage by students at the University of Limpopo last week.

Dr Jeffrey Mabelebele was temporarily held hostage as students ran amok on the campus. Mabelebele was rescued by other student leaders a few minutes after he was locked inside a room on the campus.

The sound of gunfire was the order of the day at the University of Limpopo's Turfloop campus in Mankweng yesterday as police tried to disperse a crowd of students during protests over fee increments. The students stormed a local shopping complex and forced the closure of shops.

They also demanded the suspension of their year-end examinations, which began on Monday. And by late yesterday, the university management had released a statement informing students of the suspension of examinations - but only for the morning and afternoon sessions.

But the students wanted the exams to be suspended for the remainder of the week.

The nation-wide protests by students follows announcements by various institutions of higher learning, especially universities, that their fees would increase next year.

Police fired teargas and rubber bullets to defuse violence that was turning ugly, with students throwing stones at the police's public order unit.

They demanded that minister Blade Nzimande should visit their institution to address them. "Minister Nzimande has never consulted us when he took the decision that fees be increased by 6%. We want him to come and explain to us regarding his decision," said Sam Tladi, a student leader.

At the time of going to print yesterday, police spokesman Constable Matimba Maluleke said no one had been arrested.

University spokesman Kgalema Mohuba yesterday said he was still establishing if there had been casualties.