CAPE TOWN, Sept. 20 (Xinhua) -- Protesting students set fire on properties in South Africa's Cape Town on Wednesday, drawing immediate condemnation from the ruling African National Congress (ANC).
Lecture theaters and financial aid offices at the Cape Peninsula University of Technology (CPUT) were burned during the protest that has continued for days, university authorities said.
Police and firefighters were deployed to the main campuses of CPUT as the situation went out of control.
Police fired stun grenades to disperse protesting students at some point, witnesses said.
So far there was no reports of injuries, according to police.
CPUT's various campuses have experienced sporadic unrest, amid protests that appeared to revolve around student accommodation, unhappiness over campus security and student safety and insourcing, CPUT spokesperson Lauren Kansley said.
The ANC issued a statement, condemning "in the harshest possible terms" the torching of several buildings at CPUT campuses.
"These criminal acts must be punished using the full might of our law enforcement system as they can never be a justification for any grievance anyone may have had," ANC national spokesperson Zizi Kodwa said.
"All stakeholders are further called upon to redouble their efforts to find amicable and lasting solutions to disputes and the restoration of the academic programme," Kodwa said.
The latest protest was reminiscent of the widespread protests against fee increases at major institutions of higher learning across the country in 2016.
According to the Department of Higher Education and Training, the cost of damage to universities as a result of the 2016 protests was estimated at approximately 459 million rand (about 35 million U.S. dollars). Enditem
