FILE PHOTO COURTESY ISS
Gqeberha police said they used stun grenades to disperse a group of angry Nelson Mandela University students who gathered in Central on Tuesday night to protest the death of a 24-year-old student in Clyde Street on Sunday night.
The manager of a private off-campus residence was reportedly charged with culpable homicide after the polymer technology student died after being hit by his car.
In an earlier statement, NMU said there had been an altercation at the residence where the deceased had lived the year before.
Police spokesperson, Captain Sandra Janse Van Rensburg, said about 200 students blocked Parliament Street with debris on Tuesday night in protest.
“According to a leader of the group, they were protesting because of the student who died in Clyde Street. The protesters stoned the SAPS vehicles and the POP members instructed them to disperse and when they did not disperse stun grenades and rubber bullets were used,” a police statement read.
Captain Janse Van Rensburg said no one was injured, but a case of public violence was opened for further investigation.
University spokesperson Zandile Ngwendu counselling would be made available to the deceased's family and friends.
His name has not yet been officially released.
"We have a certain process to follow before we can issue a formal death notice at the University, naming the student etc. Until then, I'm afraid, we can't divulge," Ngwendu said.
"The university is shocked and condemns this senseless act in the strongest terms."
