TWO University of North West students are in hospital after being bumped by a car.
This happened on campus on Tuesday, 27 February, during a student protest over unpaid Nsfas grants.
The students were allegedly bumped into by another student, who was allegedly driving away from angry fellow students who had blocked cars from passing.
It's alleged that the students weren't part of the protest and were on their way to attend their lectures.
“There were three students crossing in front of her car and she just sped off, knocking down the three innocent students,” said the source.
The student claimed the university also had issues of racism.
The students have been protesting over unpaid Nsfas grants since Monday, 26 February.
When contacted for comment, university SRC president Lungile Nkompela told Daily Sun there was no comment to offer from his side.
ALSO READ: Plan to end poverty and unemployment gets thumbs-up
University spokesman Louis Jacobs said the university didn’t condone any acts of racism.
He said only two students were bumped into by a fellow female student after her car was badly damaged by the protesting ones.
Jacobs said the injured students were also part of the protest, and if they wanted to open a case against the fellow student, they were free to do so.
He said the university had launched an internal investigation to get all people who were involved in the illegal and unlawful protest as they were disturbing other students.
“The perpetrators of the unrest will be dealt with harshly,” said Jacobs.
He said students and the entire student population in the country were aware of the application process of Nsfas and that institutions didn’t take responsibility. Jacobs said it was disheartening to witness unfortunate and chaotic events such as the one that happened on Tuesday.
Vanderbijlpark police station commander Brigadier Nikiwe Sefatsa said cops were at the university when the accident occurred and were able to rescue the young woman who bumped into other two students.
Sefatsa said police opened a case of public violence and were waiting for the two victims to be discharged from the hospital to give their statements.
She said the driver arrived at station after being rescued from angry students.
"As she was traumatised, she was then taken to a private doctor for counseling and police are waiting for her to also give police her statement. No arrests have been made yet,” said Sefatsa.
For more news and entertainment at the palm of your hand, follow our WhatsApp Channel via this link:
