DUT campuses shut following protests
Updated | By ECR
Durban University of Technology (DUT) says it's closing all five of its Durban campuses. It follows protests this morning over registration.
Many prospective students flocked to the institution on Tuesday hoping to register for the current academic year.
DUT says this was a result of fake social media posts inviting walk-ins to register.
But student leaders believe this is because of bad planning by management.
Following the risk to health, safety and security, the university suspended the on-campus support for online registration yesterday, indefinitely because of the health risks.
It says normal online registration will continue in the manner it has been all along, but without on-campus support.
Earlier, police set off a stun grenade, sending protesting students scattering in different directions.
In a statement, DUT says over the course of this morning, the situation escalated with protestors milling around outside the Steve Biko campus, hurling stones at buildings, damaging university property, barricading public roads, including several attempts to invade more buildings on campus.
"The University has called on all of the relevant law enforcement agencies to assist in calming this potentially dangerous situation.
"It has become clear that the situation is tough to contain and it is being exacerbated with increasing numbers of people trying to force their way onto many other parts of the Durban campuses. This also poses a bigger threat for COVID-19 infections."
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