The acrid smell of a smouldering tyre filled the air outside parliament as several hundred University of Cape Town (UCT) students sang protest songs in defiance of proposed university fee hikes.
The atmosphere was calm, despite a number of police vans and police officers in bulletproof vests in attendance.
The protests, which started on Monday, have continued to gather momentum and have spread to a number of university campuses across South Africa.
Honours student Julianna Pita told African News Agency that “the government should be subsidising student fees”.
She said she sympathised with students whose exams had been disrupted but felt it was for “a good cause”.
Fellow honours student Jess Loizides said: “I think as a white student I also have a responsibility because fees act as way of excluding students.”
Bachelor of Social Sciences student Lwazi Somya expressed his anger at the proposed fee hikes, saying “the registration fees are R24,000 a year and now they are going up to R26,000 next year”.
Meanwhile, inside the corridors of Parliament, Finance Minister Nhlanhla Nene was preparing to deliver his mid-term budget.
