Police in Johannesburg have set off stun grenades and launched teargas at stone-throwing students from a leading university who were demonstrating for free education. The chaos on Wednesday in the streets around the University of the Witwatersrand in South Africa’s biggest city followed violent campus protests on Tuesday that forced the university’s closure for the rest of the week. The government made a concession to student protesters last year, agreeing to freeze fee increases for this year. The government has promised to pay about $180m (£140m) to cover the costs of poor students. Blade Nzimande, the South African education minister, has condemned violent student protests, saying the government has “gone a long way” to financially supporting poor students and that students with resources should pay fees to help cover rising university costs.

Source: The Guardian September 21, 2016 17:15 UTC