Protest At Soshanguve North After Alleged Assault of Student

Pearl Nicodemus

Angry students occupying the Tshwane University of Technology’s Soshanguve North Residences have protested against security guards they accuse of assaulting a male student who was breaking the rules.

TUT rules state that male students are not allowed to enter certain female residences after 10 PM, but this rule is often broken by the students. On the Friday night in question security guards decided to enforce this rule. When the student chose to ignore their pleas they allegedly assaulted the male student in question. The incident led to other students protesting on campus.

As a form of protest male students who were allegedly drunk wanted to forcefully enter female residences after the curfew.

The angry protesters forcefully removed all the security guards that were on duty from their posts and led them to the gate under the instruction of the SRC president who was also allegedly drunk. The protest became more volatile after protesters realised they were losing the battle. They then marched to the South Campus but police were alerted before they could cause any disruption.

It is alleged that the security guard has done something similar at the main campus in the past. That led to the guard getting suspended for a month. This was confirmed by his angry colleagues who were at the scene.

“We can’t suffer for one person,” one security guard shouted. Members of the Student Representative Council say they want the institution to employ a new security company.

It’s not clear whether action will be taken against the security guard or the students.