Two students at the University of the Witswatersrand (Wits) have been suspended after assaulting a lecturer and damaging university property.
One of the students, Mangaliso Sambo was arrested and will appear in Hillbrow Magistrate’s court tomorrow. Sambo appeared in court yesterday but the matter was postponed.
Last week Thursday the two students allegedly demanded that they be let into a meeting held by the Wits School of Education’s executive committee. The meeting took place at the Parktown campus. The two students are members of the Education Students’ Council, however they were not allowed to be at this meeting.
When the students tried to enter the meeting, some members of staff tried to stop them by asking them to leave. Allegedly this was when Sambo attacked a staff member and at which point security removed the two students.
Allegedly the students returned later on, they attacked another staff member, broke windows and turned furniture over in the campus control office. The staff member and campus control manager were taken to Milpark Hospital and discharged later that night.
Wits spokesperson Shirona Patel told EWN that “The university will not tolerate any form of physical abuse against any members of the Wits community. And the university will act forthrightly within our rules, policies and procedures against anyone who perpetrates acts of violence on our campuses.”
Both students will also face disciplinary proceedings.
Written by Jody Davison
