UNISWA STUDENTS CLASH WITH COPS

A UNISWA student holding a placard written 'We 60 per cent back'.

MATSAPHA – There was chaos at the Kwaluseni campus of the University of Swaziland yesterday as students clashed with the police during a protest over allowances.

Police officers were pelted with stones as the more than 2 000 students were blocked from marching towards the Mahhala traffic circle.
The students had convened earlier in light of the prevailing issues of scholarships and allo-wances.

 This followed the boycott of classes on Monday in an effort to engage government to release first year students’ allowances.
The students had resolved, after their meeting, that they would march towards Mahhala bringing traffic to a standstill.

In a few minutes though, a group of about 15 police officers arrived at the scene and confronted the students.
The resilient students had to be dispersed with the use of tear gas which was fired by the police and it successfully dispersed the adva-ncing group of students, who would again regroup and proceed towards the Mahhala traffic circle.

The police, however, blocked them from proceeding near Gwamile VOCTIM.
The police then escorted the students back to the university. Along the way, the students would sit in the middle of the road. They even pelted the police with stones. The officers from the Operational Support Services Unit (OSSU) arrived in three trucks and fired shots in the air and tear gas canisters.

... Wendy condemns students’ behaviour

MATSAPHA – Police Public Relations Officer (PRO) Superintendent Wendy Hleta has condemned UNUSWA students’ violent behaviour against the police.

 “We have been told that the students at UNISWA turned violent against the police. That act was uncalled for. We strongly condemn violent acts during such cases because the police usually find themselves forced by circum-stances to use force to calm the situation.

You find that everything becomes nasty at the end. We appeal to the students, and the public at large, to use peaceful means to address their grievances,” Hleta said.
She said students should treat police as their fathers, mothers, brothers and sisters as they would also do likewise.

The police spokesperson said police would be deployed today during the students’ march to the Ministry of Labour and Social Security to make sure that other people were not inconvenienced.  She said they would also be there to make sure that peace and order was maintained.

However, she said it was unnece-ssary for the students to march to the ministry. She said the delivery of their grievances could be done by the Student Representative Council (SRC) alone.

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