At least three people were arrested on Tuesday morning during protests at the University of Cape Town’s lower campus.

About 50 protesting students and workers were told to disperse after blocking a road on the lower campus.

Private security told the protesters that they had three minutes to unblock the road where they were sitting and singing.

Although most left‚ a handful remained seated on crates in the middle of the road and private security moved in. At least three people were arrested.

One protester said that private security had targeted certain individuals who were handed over to police. He said a student leader and residence warden of College House were also arrested earlier this morning.

“Once we were off the road‚ private security came running after us‚ grabbing specific key individuals‚” said the protester‚ who asked not to be identified.

“You could see that it was very well planned‚ they knew who they wanted and they hunted them down for 15 minutes or so‚” he said.

“We understand that it’s part of the state’s efforts to demobilise us for when we do march on parliament of the 26th‚” he alleged.

Another student leader said 12 people had been arrested in total since Monday.

She said that students knew nothing about four cars that were burnt in the early hours of Tuesday morning.

She appealed for legal assistance‚ saying that students wanted to open cases of “attempted murder“‚ among other charges. — TMG Digital