Shortly after 11am on Friday, between De Korte and Biccard streets in Braamfontein, shops and businesses were told to close by protesting Wits University students. 

The students are calling for an end to financial exclusion, the cap on residence allowances from the National Student Financial Aid Scheme to be scrapped and a lack of accommodation to be rectified.

A few people in Braamfontein were seen singing in solidarity with the students as they chanted and danced their way to a Wits campus entrance, where they tried to push through a barricade set up by security personnel.

“These buildings that charge exorbitant prices for accommodation, they must no longer operate until our demands are met,” said Wits student representative council (SRC) president Aphiwe Mnyamana.

“We are closing businesses in Braamfontein until the country takes us seriously.”

A Wits student wearing an EFF SRC T-shirt spoke to TimesLIVE but wished to remain anonymous.

“What we are doing here is to raise consciousness among all universities across South Africa. We can't be doing this on a yearly basis, we are tired. It's time to come together as a unified youth and go to the people we are fighting,” the student said.

“If you put pressure on universities, we have closer proximity to [higher education minister] Blade Nzimande.”

The protests continue.

TimesLIVE