“To be attacked‚ insulted and assaulted by the youth who they only want to protect‚ is a bitter pill to swallow” for police deployed to the University of the Witwatersrand campus.

That’s the feeling of acting national commissioner Lieutenant-General Khomotso Phahlane‚ who‚ after a tour of Gauteng campuses on Monday‚ said: “This type of behaviour can never be condoned by any law-abiding person and is to be roundly condemned.

“Attacks on law enforcement officials‚ constitutionally mandated to uphold the laws of the land‚ can only be described as an attack on the state itself.”

Police had to intervene on Monday when students pelted private security guards with rocks. After the students were dispersed using teargas‚ stun grenades and water cannons‚ the protesters ran into the streets of Braamfontein‚ where a bus was set alight and shops looted.

Wits said in statement on Monday night that “the operational control of the security is in the hands of the police and they have agreed to deploy resources on a building by building basis” on Tuesday as the university prepared to continue with classes.

“The national commissioner has advised that there is a clear strategy to arrest any individual involved in criminal activity‚” the statement added.

Phahlane on Monday commended police officers who “have continued to display maximum restraint in the face of severe provocation”.

“In some instances there have been running battles between the police and protesting students‚ who have disrupted classes and traffic‚ pelted police with rocks‚ flooded premises with water from fire hoses‚ discharged fire extinguishers‚ overturned a vehicle and set property alight‚” he said.

“Theirs is not an easy task. They have been called upon to protect lives and property in the middle of a dispute that is not of their making. Many‚ if not most‚ of them are parents and to be attacked‚ insulted and assaulted by the youth who they only want to protect‚ is a bitter pill to swallow.”

He described as “extremely reckless” the reported utterances of “a so-called student leader”‚ who had said: “Our blood can spill on the university grounds. We are prepared to sacrifice our blood for the sake of a better future for many young people.”

Phahlane said of the threat: “The SAPS reject it out of hand. We are determined‚ and have proved this point‚ that our members will exercise restraint so that no student should be harmed while we attempt to maintain stability and safety in our country. We remain resolute in this regard.” – TMG Digital