Image: wikivillage.co.za
Gates to the Nelson Mandela University in Port Elizabeth were shut on Monday morning.
“When staff tried to unblock barricades, it almost escalated into violence. Management has temporarily halted all student transport as a precautionary measure,” the university shared on social media.
A police unit is monitoring the situation. The barricades were at the north and south entrances.
The protest action is believed to relate to growing outrage over reports of muggings and robberies affecting staff and students.
The university said in a statement on Sunday that this was an issue of great concern to everyone on campus, as well as elsewhere in the metro, and it was already implementing additional security measures to curb crime, in conjunction with students and other role players.
Increased concerns about crime over the past three years have come from the suburb of Summerstrand and the inner city, where there is a concentration of students.
Several initiatives to curb criminal activity have been put in place on university campuses and their surrounds, in collaboration with police and private security companies, said the university’s management.
Efforts towards crime-proofing its campuses include active access monitoring at the entrances, new fencing, additional alarms in labs and a biometric entry system for the university’s student residences in Port Elizabeth.
Read more of the story on TimesLIVE
BY: TIMESLIVE
SOURCE: TMG DIGITAL
