CAMPUS PROTESTS
Universities stymied #FeesMustFall policing, say SAPS
SAPS officials complain institutions failed to co-operate fully, which frustrated law enforcement
The South African Police Service (SAPS) has bemoaned the lack of co-operation from universities during the #FeesMustFall protests that were characterised by violence, arson and damage to property amounting to millions of rand. In 2016, Higher Education Minister Blade Nzimande estimated that the cost of property damage at universities was well over R600m, beginning with the 2015 protests. On Tuesday, SAPS officials briefed MPs on university security during a joint meeting of the police committee and the portfolio committee on higher education and training. SAPS officials said that even though they had set aside significant resources to maintain law and order on campuses, some institutions failed to co-operate fully, which frustrated the work of the police. Late in 2016, the Gauteng provincial government revealed that the SAPS had paid its officers more than R3m for overtime work at universities in the province since the start of the #FeesMustFall protests. The SAPS’s Brig Faizel Ally...
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