Cele condemns violence at KZN university

Police minister Bheki Cele has condemned violent student protests that disrupted a northern KwaZulu-Natal university this week.

The protests came after an incident in which a student from the University of Zululand was attacked during a house robbery off campus.

The incident culminated in students staging violent protests, where they blockaded main roads and disrupted teaching and learning at three local high schools.

A satellite police station was also torched during the unrest.

On Thursday, Cele held a series of meetings with stakeholders in an effort to address the violence.

“This is an act of criminality. Those schools must be opened and pupils can’t be punished for issues they know nothing about. The authority of the state can't be disrespected, no matter what the complaint is, those who have burnt the police station must be brought to book," he said.

According to the police ministry, the University of Zululand has admitted to facing security challenges that include inadequate access control to the campus and environmental designs, such as poor lighting on campus and on roads used by students to access the institution from nearby off-campus places of residence.

"The institution also admits that its surveillance system is not up to scratch," the ministry said.

Cele called for a strengthened working relationship between the university and the police service.

"General Cele has called for an urgent follow-up meeting which will see students form part of the discussions to combat crime in the area alongside university management, local traditional authority and landlords renting out their properties to students," the department said.

The university remains closed.