'There is extreme hatred of whites' - UCT student

Cape Town - A University of Cape Town (UCT) student, who herself did not have place in a residence at the institution when she first arrived, says there is an extreme hatred of whites among those who are protesting the housing shortage.

The student, who did not want to be named, said she was one of the students who did not have accommodation when she arrived at UCT - but that the university had informed all students affected.

"The university let them know that there is no residence available for them [but] they didn't make other plans.

"Yet they came here and the university rented these lodges, one in Mowbry and one in Observatory, to accommodate them, which is really good. It's not like the shack they have put up here. It has a bed and a desk and warm water and three delicious meals every day," she said.

The student said she could not understand why the group was protesting.

The students started their protest earlier this week with the erection of a shack to highlight accommodation shortages.

Eight individuals were arrested, one of whom was not a student, after the busts of Jan Smuts and Maria Emmeline Barnard Fuller were spray painted red on Monday, and art removed from buildings and set alight.

They were released on bail on Wednesday afternoon.

Their case was postponed to March 30. 

UCT said it intended suspending the group. Vice chancellor Max Price said public order police had been deployed to ensure violence did not flare up again.

Price said students protesting under the #RhodesMustFall banner reacted violently to the institution's request on Tuesday to move the shack they had erected in Residence Road.

He said students invaded residences and kitchens, erected burning barricades, and stole portraits from residences which they set on fire. A car and a shuttle bus were set alight and another bus was stolen. 

The student who spoke to News24 said she had shared a lodge with a number of the individuals who were protesting.

"One, this is that there is an extreme hatred of whites. From the way they speak it's more about apartheid," she said when asked what had fueled this so-called hatred.

She said the atmosphere on campus on Wednesday was "actually good".

This article first appeared on News24 – see here.