Wits on high alert after UCT protests, VC slams burning of paintings
Johannesburg - The University of Witwatersrand increased security on Wednesday after fiery protests at the University of Cape Town and the petrol bombing of the vice chancellor's office, Wits Vice Chancellor Adam Habib said.
Slamming the burning of art, a bus and a bakkie, Habib said there could never be an an excuse for such actions, irrespective of the complaint about symbols of white history and the pain they caused.
This was after a small group of students spray-painted the busts of General Jan Smuts and Maria Emmeline Barnard Fuller on Monday, and on Tuesday afternoon set paintings depicting white people alight.
The paintings were removed from the residences near a shack that the group had set up to protest lack of accommodation and claims that some were not allowed to register.
The university confirmed on Wednesday morning that UCT Vice Chancellor Max Price's office had been petrol bombed.