GroundUp: Wits quiet as classes begin to fill

First published by GroundUp

Protest leaders negotiated with police to march to Hillbrow Police Station and Magistrates’ Court (which are next to each other) to support people arrested in the clashes on Monday, who were appearing in court on Wednesday. Eventually a bus transported the protesters there. Protesters sang outside the court building where their arrested comrades were appearing but there was none of the tension of the past few days.

Scenes in Hillbrow earlier on Wednesday. Photos: Ihsaan Haffejee

On Wednesday afternoon eight students were released on a warning. They have to appear in court on November 2.

A mass meeting of Fees Must Fall was held at Wits’s Solomon Mahlangu House late on Wednesday afternoon. The meeting was ongoing at the time of publication. On the Twitter account of Wits Fees Must Fall, one of the calls being made in the meeting was for the release of protesters still under arrest. DM

Main photo: Student protesters were jubilant when people arrested on Monday were released on warning after appearing in the Hillbrow Magistrates’ Court on Wednesday. Photo: Ihsaan Haffejee