University of Witwatersrand student leader Shaeera Kalla on Thursday, said she was trying to negotiate with police not to shoot students as she held her hands up, but was shot 13 times in the back on campus.

Kalla, who was being treated in hospital, said in a post to her fellow comrades, that students were singing peacefully before the incident happened.

“At the time, we all had our hands up in the air and some of us were negotiating with the police not to shoot. I was shot 13 times in the back at a very close range in a targeted attack on students. I am currently in hospital and I will have to stay in according to doctors,” read her post.

She said another student leader, Busisiwe Seabe, was also shot and being treated in hospital.

“While in extreme pain in the emergency section of the hospital, I was greeted by three policemen who demanded that I provide them with a statement. Even if we sit in hospital beds and others languishing in jail, I take strength from other students who continue to fight.”

Police said Gauteng police commissioner Lt-Gen Deliwe de Lange visited Kalla in hospital earlier. The shooting incident, in which four students, including Kalla, were shot with rubber bullets on campus. Six others were treated on campus for minor injuries and released.

Police spokeswoman Brigadier Sally de Beer said the Independent Police Investigative Directorate (IPID) would investigate the incident.