Wits SRC Vows to Continue Campus Shutdown Until Demands Are Met, Protest Spills Into Streets of Braamfontein

• The Wits Student Representative Council will not stop the Wits shutdown until students' demands are met
• The protests have intensified and disgruntled students spilt into the streets of Braamfontein, Johannesburg
• The students have blocked intersections and closed down shops lining the streets of the city's CBD

JOHANNESBURG - The Wits Student Representative Council (SRC) has vowed to go forward with shutting down the university's campus until their demands are met.

On Wednesday, 1 March, scores of the university's students disrupted lectures and took to the streets of Braamfontein, Johannesburg, in a protest demonstration.

The students are demanding an end to financial exclusion, a scrapping of the cap on residence allowances from NSFAS and a lack of accommodation, TimesLIVE reported.

The student protest intensified and spilt into the streets of Johannesburg on Thursday, 2 March.

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Wits shutdown spills into Braamfontein, students shut down shops and block roads

Videos of the student protest have been making their rounds on social media. One video posted by @LivePretoria shows how that campus shutdown spilt into the streets of Johannesburg on Thursday, 2 March.

In the video, students can be seen blocking an intersection while a fire truck tries to cross.

Another video posted by @Thabo_Tshaba on Twitter shows the protesting students closing shops on De Korte Street.

Wits threatens students who damaged property and intimidated security with suspension

Meanwhile, Wits University has threatened to charge or suspend students who intimidated guards and damaged university property during the protest.

The university said its Campus Protection Services is reviewing video footage and other evidence to identify perpetrators and build a case against them, News24 reported.

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South Africans aren't impressed with Wits University student shutdown

@GUNNERS28 slammed:

"Where are the police? They lose all credibility and support when they start acting like common criminals!"

@BarbraStrident asked:

"What's the thinking here? Why punish small businesses? They're not responsible for the state's failure to fund higher education."

@YogaSivaya said:

"The more they destroy, the more they lose public sympathy."

@OngamaDlabantu claimed:

"We can no longer tolerate criminal thugs posing as students!"

UKZN student leaders threaten to shut university down amid accommodation crisis, want students assigned beds

In a similar story, Briefly News reported that student leaders at the University of KwaZulu-Natal vowed to shut the institution down as the accommodation crisis at the university deepens.

This comes as videos of pictures of countless students sleeping in halls, corridors and classrooms have circulated on social media.

The student leaders threatened to move forward with the shutdown until all the students were accommodated.

Source: Briefly News