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A religious group of black and whites students praying for an end to the ongoing racial tension at the University of the Free State was forced to move their prayer session away from the campus entrance as protesting students arrived to disrupt their gathering.
The students, who were praying with their hands raised in the air, were disturbed by the loud singing and dancing of protesting students who emerged from the campus, some of whom were carrying sticks and placards.
“Get out of here, take your prayers somewhere else or join us,” one protesters yelled at the praying group as they started to go on their knees.
When protesters sang even louder and threw water bottles at them, they moved to about 30 metres away from the main entrance. They held their hands together and formed a circle and started praying again.
On campus, members of the student representative council were preparing a memorandum of grievances that was to be submitted to university management later today.
The gates remained under lock and chain following management’s decision to suspend all academic activities following Monday’s drama in which black protesting students were reportedly attacked by white students.
This after the students took their protest to the sports field where a rugby match was under way.
The Varsity Cup game was being played by the university’s team against the team from the Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University.
“The game started at 6.30pm. About 17 minutes into the match, a group of protesters sitting on the northeastern side of the stadium decided to invade the pitch and disrupt the game,” the university said in a statement yesterday.
“ Clashes between students occurred afterwards on campus and members of the public order policing unit had to disperse some of them. The situation was stabilised in the early hours of the morning.
“Disruption continued [yesterday] morning when students damaged some university buildings, a statue, and broke windows. Additional reinforcements from the South African Police Service were brought in to stabilise the campus. Additional security has also been deployed.”
There was less movement on campus today after classes were suspended. Students’ demands included the fall of Afrikaans as a language of medium instruction and an end to staff outsourcing.
“Our demands are clear and we’re calling for the removal of Professor Jonathan Jansen as the university vice-chancellor. We don’t recognise him anymore and until our demands are attended to we will continue protesting peacefully,” said student representative council president Lindokuhle Ntuli.
