Protesting students set alight several buildings on the University of North West campus in Mahikeng yesterday following clashes between demonstrators and private security officers.
Unconfirmed reports said rubber bullets and tear gas were fired at the protesters and that several people were injured.
The violence reportedly broke out moments after the newly elected Student Representative Council was inaugurated. Students opposed to the new SRC protested and clashes ensued.
North West police spokesman Brigadier Leonard Hlati said students who went on the rampage in the morning torched a vehicle belonging to a campus security officer.
''In the afternoon they continued rioting, setting alight the university science block and administration offices.
''While rioting they also set alight the caretaker's home.''
Hlati said when police arrived they received information that people had been shot. ''We do not know what calibre of weapon was used or how many people were shot. We are encouraging people with information to contact us.''
At the University of Free State, the SRC wants Jonathan Jansen to resign as vice-chancellor. The university suspended classes after a group of students vowed revenge after a Monday night protest during a Varsity Cup rugby match ended with frustrated spectators assaulting them.
On Tuesday, protesting students vandalised a monument to CR Swart in front of the law faculty building. Police and security personnel patrolled the campus yesterday as the SRC leadership drew up a memorandum.
Mpho Khati, the SRC's deputy president, said students were willing to hand the memorandum over to anyone on the university's senior management team - except Jansen. "We don't recognise him any more," she said.
The memorandum calls for:
- Jansen's resignation;
- The release without charge of students involved in Monday's fracas;
- The diversification of the university's residences; and
- The fast-tracking of "decolonisation" at the university.
