“Which University Is This?”: Student Runs for His Life After Monkey Confrontation on Campus

• A Pretoria university student was confronted and chased by a troop of monkeys on campus, and South Africans found the whole thing absolutely hilarious
• South African campuses have seen more than a few bold primate moments over the years, and the videos never fail to stop people mid-scroll on social media
• Vervet monkeys are protected by conservation laws and have a long-standing presence in South Africa that predates most of the campuses they now visits time goes on

Some campus days end with a failed test. Others end with a full sprint away from a troop of monkeys.

A student at a Pretoria university got confronted and chased by a troop of monkeys, and it was all caught on camera. Nobody got hurt, but Mzansi got a story that spread across social media faster than the student could run.

The incident happened at the Tshwane University of Technology’s Ga-Rankuwa campus in Pretoria. The monkeys confronted the student and gave chase, and the whole thing was filmed. What triggered the animals in the first place remained unknown at the time of reporting.

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Monkeys on South African campuses are nothing new

Raselalome, a TikTok user posting under @matema.r, shared the video of the confrontation on 23 March 2025. South Africans responded with full comedic energy in the comments.

South African campuses have had their fair share of monkey moments over the years. A UKZN Westville campus student once shared a video of around ten monkeys moving around a lecture hall.

In February 2025, a monkey jumped onto a professor’s table mid-lecture at Nelson Mandela University in Gqeberha, while another monkey raided a student’s residence room and made a mess of cereal. These animals do not read the campus rules, and they certainly do not care about academic schedules.

Monkeys across SA are getting increasingly bolder

Outside of campuses, primates across South Africa have been growing bolder. Around 500 chacma baboons roam the Cape Peninsula south of Cape Town, and as human development pushes further into their natural habitat, the animals have been entering properties, raiding kitchens, and grabbing food.

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See the confrontation in the TikTok clip below:

Mzansi reacts to the confrontation

Briefly News compiled some comments from the post below.

@Tikie Tikie commented:

“Imagine you're having an exam and that time you're late. Then this happens. 😂”

@Beggy@03♡ said:

“Bro tried to negotiate with them. 😭”

@Sweet Dandelion asked:

“Which Uni is this, so that I know never to enrol there? 😞”

@Nomthandazo wrote:

“I would run to the cameraman. 😂 There is no way I'm in trouble, and you're capturing the moment. 😂”

@Ta'Mike commented:

“Imagine explaining this to your lecturer. 😞💔”

More encounters with animals

• An animal rescuer shared a video of the latest adopted animal, a baby springbok, drawing the attention of viewers.
• Mzansi has been fortunate to witness some of the most shocking animal and human encounters, which were captured on camera and shared online.
• A recently uploaded video showed the late Cindy the Baboon getting feisty when someone put something on her head.

Source: Briefly News