A 3-day long students’ protest at one of South Africa’s elite universities – the University of Witwatersrand in Johannesburg – has claimed the life of a lone bystander who was not participating in the protest. The victim whose age is given as 35 was allegedly shot dead by men of the South African Police Service (SAPS) earlier today.
Another Reuters pix of students’ clash with the South African police during a similar protest in 2016
According to media reports, the students are determined not to call off the protest which is understood to be over exclusion from some benefits of what the Daily Maverick, for instance, calls funding shortfalls from the National Student Financial Aid Scheme.
The protest is said to have brought the university to a standstill last Monday when it all started. This is obviously an unfolding story as some of the press reports indicate that the National Student Financial Aid Scheme is still briefing the National Parliament when the protest claimed its first victim.
Protest against fees, especially by black students has been a regular feature of Wits in recent years as in the 2015 picture serving as cover picture for this story.
