The Student Representative Council (SRC) at the University of the Witwatersrand (Wits) in Johannesburg says students will continue their protest action until the institution's executive has met their demands.

Dozens of students joined the protest on Thursday, while some classes were disrupted and shops on campus closed.

At the heart of the demonstration is the exclusion of students who cannot register for the new academic year or secure accommodation placements at the university's residences due to a lack of funds.

SRC member Solami Buthelezi said the body was frustrated that university management had still not met with students.

"They are very arrogant, and it doesn't have to be like that. We tried to negotiate in good faith. We are prepared to meet them pound for pound with arrogance. The conclusion to this is that all students must register, or Wits must absolve their debt."

The SRC has the following demands:

•  All students owing R150 000 or less should be allowed to register for the 2023 academic year.
• The R10 000 upfront fee to secure residence placement should be waived, and students should be allowed to move in.
• The university must allocate an additional R30 million towards an accommodation fund to secure more beds for homeless students.
• The National Student Financial Aid Scheme's R45 000 cap for residences should be scrapped immediately.
•  All students who are beneficiaries of the Hardship Fund should be allowed to register and not pay the residual amount.

Thursday's protest began on the busy Empire Road near the university entrance, where students disrupted rush hour traffic by burning rubble and tyres.

Officers from the Johannesburg Metropolitan Police Department (JMPD) arrived and quickly doused the flames, and traffic was flowing freely from around 09:30.

Protesting students then entered the campus, closing the canteen and disrupting classes. They then proceeded to the Great Hall, where they tried to set up a base, but the security guards the university hired were there to meet them.

Several clashes occurred outside the hall, but campus security and the new guards, called "bouncers" by students, prevented protesters from entering the building.

The protest was mostly peaceful, but for the actions of a small group of members who chose to protest in balaclavas or scarves to hide their identity. These individuals pushed and shoved security guards and harassed several students who did not want to join the protest.

At noon, the protesters took to the streets of Braamfontein.

Students from the University of Johannesburg (UJ) were also protesting over fees and accommodation. Their group, however, was smaller and more political, with members of the African National Congress and the Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) leading scores of students.

The group blocked off Solomon Road between the two universities in Auckland Park.

UJ SRC member and EFF student leader Oreatlile Mosiane said protest was the only language the university understood.

He and others said the residences at UJ were unhabitable and very expensive. They said some of the residences had water and electricity problems.

Mosiane said the protest would continue until their demands were met.

The UJ students waited in the middle of the road to be addressed by the university officials, forcing vehicles to turn around.

One vehicle sped through the students as they dove for safety. Another driver stopped and went to speak to security while being mocked and taunted by the crowd.

The man asked where he could fetch his daughter at the university. Suddenly a group of protesters encircled him, and a woman in tears screamed, "We want our land back".

The crowd started chanting: "Give us our land back". They called the man "Jan Van", a tout to his Afrikaner heritage after the Dutch colonial administrator in the Cape, Jan van Riebeeck. As the defeated man walked to his car, protesters sang "Kill the Boer".

Refreshments for refuelling

Meanwhile, in the late afternoon, the Wits SRC bought cool drinks and snacks for student protesters resting in the courtyard outside the Great Hall.

Then there was another short skirmish to get into the hall, and a guard was pushed down the stairs, but ultimately the group finished the day where they started – in rush hour traffic on Empire Road.

Wits University's senior executive team sent a notice to staff, saying the "actions of the disruptors transgressed the university rules pertaining to peaceful protest and the rights of those who wanted to learn and work".

The notice said that images, footage and statements submitted to Campus Protection Services had been sent to the Legal Office "with a view to suspend the disruptors". 

On Thursday evening, the executive team said in a statement that multiple suspension orders had been issued to transgressors.

The statement read, "During the course of the suspension processes and other investigations, we found that some of the perpetrators who were committing infractions were academically excluded. Some had failed multiple times, had lost their funding and were now demanding to be registered."

The notice said the university had reached out to the SRC, but it was the students who were failing to engage with the university. It said the university remained open, and the academic programme would continue as scheduled.