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- The Wits SRC has alleged that a woman was wounded by live ammunition during a student protest in Johannesburg on Monday.
- The police used tear gas to disperse the crowd and several students have been arrested.
- Students across the country began demonstrations Monday demanding that those in debt be allowed to register and that historic debt be eliminated.
Police spokesman Brigadier Vish Naidoo has denied claims that members of the police fired live ammunition at protesters after a student was allegedly shot during a protest in Johannesburg.
Naidoo said: “In an effort to disperse volatile crowds, only a smoke grenade was used in one incident and water cannons in others. This matter has not been officially reported to SAPS, making it difficult to determine the nature of the student’s injuries. as the circumstances in which the injuries occurred. “
Naidoo said police will interview the student and obtain the medical report on the incident.
This after the president of Wits SRC, Mpendulo Mfeka, alleged: “In our observation, we do not believe that the police continue to use rubber bullets … I believe that the police are now using live ammunition.”
A video of the student who was injured was circulating on social media shortly after the incident. “Police brutality towards poor blacks in this country is at an alarming level,” he said. Mfeka said the protests would continue on Tuesday, adding that he had not yet met with Wits Deputy Foreign Minister Zeblon Vilakazi.
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The students gathered outside the Hillbrow Police Station following the arrest of four of their fellow protesters.
On Monday, students from Wits University and the University of Johannesburg (UJ) took to the streets, fulfilling their promise to try to close 26 institutions. Chaos erupted after police used water cannons and tear gas against protesters as they approached the M1 from UJ Bunting Campus.
News24, which was in the vicinity when police fired tear gas at the crowd, could hear gunshots.
Earlier in the day, students from the two institutions had gathered in separate places; those of Wits on De Beer Street, while those of UJ blocked University Road and Kingsway Avenue in Auckland Park.
Assaulted
The two groups met on Annet Road leading to the UJ Bunting Road campus. They broke into the university premises and then marched towards Braamfontein.
READ |Protests over university fees: students block roads near the UJ in a morning demonstration
But when they approached the M1, the police used water cannons to disperse them, prompting the students to throw tree branches and stones at the M1 North. Subsequently, a group was arrested in Braamfontein. Another student was shot in the leg and later taken to hospital.
