Cape Town – Police officials fired stun grenades at about 50 University of Cape Town students protesting outside Parliament on Thursday, the students said.
UCT student Ru Slayen said most of the protesters were part of the Rhodes Must Fall movement.
“We are protesting against Afrophobia and we marched from the UCT’s Hiddingh campus to Parliament. When outside Parliament, the police came and suddenly pushed us from the gates. They started assaulting one of the students,” said Slayen.
“They then threw stun grenades at us,” said Slayen.
Third-year UCT law student, Fumisa Ngqele, who was also part of Rhodes Must Fall radical action committee, said: “The police immediately became violent. They pushed us, telling us there must be at least a 50m radius.
“It was absolute chaos. There were numerous explosions and we dispersed immediately.”
One of the students, Ezra, was allegedly injured in the ear. Blood was reportedly pouring from his ear and down his neck. He was taken to hospital.
Slayen said they were trying to mobilise more people to join their protest action.
He counted 24 police officers who were monitoring them.
Cape Town police officials could not immediately confirm the incident.
Around 30 students continued to protest outside Parliament on Thursday evening, near the statue of Louis Botha, which was recently defaced.
“They put up a tape to block us and, seemingly, they are letting us continue,” Slayen said
News24
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