#FeesMustFall protests close National Library of South Africa

24 October 2016 - 14:30 By TMG Digital

The “threat of damage” from #FeesMustFall protests has prompted the National Library of South Africa (NLSA) to close its Pretoria campus. “The NLSA’s assessment of the situation is that we cannot risk opening the library under the current situation‚” CEO Prof Rocky Ralebipi-Simela said on Monday.TUT students protest against ‘bouncers’ on campusTshwane University of Technology (TUT) students have regrouped following a relatively quiet weekend for Fees Must Fall protests. “We will continue to monitor the situation and will communicate any change of decision‚ should we be convinced that the threat of damage to the library has been averted.”Wits #FeesMustFall movement takes protest to Constitutional HillUniversity of the Witwatersrand students will on Monday take their demands for “quality&decolonized education & …an end to the police brutality” to the Constitutional Court. A statement said that “protest action… threatened the library‚ its collections and library users in the past week”.It described the NLSA “as the primary resource and custodian of South Africa’s documentary heritage‚ promotes creative‚ effective and efficient universal access to information”.“When the libraries and institutions of higher learning go up in flames‚ the knowledge meant to be preserved for posterity is destroyed‚” Ralebipi-Simela said.“The NLSA remains resolute and adamant in our course to provide access to information to the people of South Africa and the world. We believe that information open doors for individuals and the nation in general.”– TMG Digital..

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