Students from the Tshwane University of Technology (TUT) are preparing to join the student protests as they are a week away from completing their 2020 academic calendar.

TUT SRC president Mike Mothiba has condemned the ongoing police violence and called on police minister Bheki Cele and President Cyril Ramaphosa to ban the use of rubber bullets against young people.

“The student debt keeps increasing yearly and more students are denied access to universities while many others have completed their studies with nothing to show as universities have kept their qualification.

“The cost of corruption is so high that R14bn of student debt is nothing but a mere drop in the ocean if our leaders are to be serious about the ongoing crisis,” Mothiba said.

SRC secretary-general Thabang Sengoane argued that reacting to student demands with rubber bullets and stun grenades was barbaric and inhuman.

“We have witnessed killings and irreversible injuries of students and ordinary South Africans who sought protection from men and women in blue uniform not knowing those are the very people thirsty for their blood. Are the police aware that we are fighting for their children and family members as well?”

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