The police are upping the ante against fee protesters and have vowed to act decisively to quell escalating tension at universities that has resulted in the arrest of dozens of students countrywide. The warning shot comes from acting police commissioner Khomotso Phahlane, who on Monday said the student-led protests were being taken over by criminal elements. Phahlane made the remarks against the backdrop of an increasingly tense situation on the country’s campuses which has seen students clashing with police in violent and disturbing scenes. The situation remained unchanged on Monday at the University of the Witwatersrand, which reopened amid a heavy police presence. Phahlane said so far police had arrested 20 students at the University of the Free State for public violence and violating a court order. Five other students were arrested early on Monday when lectures were disrupted at Rhodes University, he said. But he would not give an exact figure of how many students had been arrest...
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