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South Africa's Nzimande offers to cap student fees | |
(about 7 hours later) | |
South African Higher Education Minister Blade Nzimande has resolved to cap tuition fee increases at 6% for 2016. | |
Proposed tuition fee hikes of between 10% and 12% have sparked protests at universities across the country. | |
Some University of Cape Town (UCT) students who were arrested because of the demonstrations have been released, but have to appear in court next week. | |
Police arrested more than 20 students after they defied a court order, declaring their action unlawful. | |
The protests have affected seven universities, including Wits in the main city, Johannesburg. | |
Some student leaders - including those linked to the leftwing opposition Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) party - rejected the minster's offer, which he made after talks with university officials. | |
"They know very well that we can't afford 6%. We want free quality education," Wits EFF chairperson Vuyani Pambo told Reuters news agency. | |
Mr Nzimande has said the government could not afford to provide free education for poor students. | |
Students say the fee hikes amount to discrimination in a country where the average income of black families is far less than that of white families. | |
The protests are the biggest by university students since apartheid ended in 1994. | |
They started at Wits last week before spreading to UCT, Rhodes, Stellenbosch, Fort Hare, the Free State and the Cape Peninsula University of Technology. | |
The protests have also sparked wide reaction on social media under the hashtag #FeesMustFall. | |
Some universities have been forced to shut down, as students burnt barricades and stormed buildings. | |
At UCT, police fired stun grenades to disperse protesters who defied a court order preventing the disruption of lectures, the public broadcaster, SABC reports. | At UCT, police fired stun grenades to disperse protesters who defied a court order preventing the disruption of lectures, the public broadcaster, SABC reports. |
The protest at the University of Witwatersrand has continued, despite its management agreeing to suspend the increase in fees until talks place. | |