Johannesburg - University of Johannesburg (UJ) protesters appear to have lost focus over what they are protesting about, three of the institution’s students said on Tuesday.
They were worried that the protesters were taking their fight to places that had nothing to do with university fees, they told News24. They did not want to be named for fear of victimisation.
Some protesters on Monday indicated that they intended shutting down the Campus Square mall in Auckland Park, which is near the university, and also planned to loot shops.
"One thing we noticed on Monday was that the marchers had no plan or strategy. They just sort of ran around on campus from one point to the next without any goal. A lot of students complained about that," one of the students said.
They believed that, instead of making tertiary education completely free, fees should instead be decreased, given the current state of the South African economy.
"If fees completely fall, the standard of education will fall," said one.
“It simply doesn’t make sense how these protesters think that the destruction of the very property they want to be educated at for free is necessary,” another said.
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On Tuesday, protesters stormed lecture theatres and forced students out. In one case they used a fire extinguisher to accomplish this.
Protesters who disrupted classes said they did not want their faces visible on any video footage.
On the same day, a University of the Witwatersrand cleaner suffered an asthma attack when students used a fire extinguisher in the Jubilee Hall residence. He later died.
According to the three UJ students, suspended students and SRC members were among those protesting at their institution.