Overview

• The University of Fort Hare suspended all operations and ordered students to vacate residences by 5pm on Thursday after declaring campuses unsafe.
• Key facilities at the Alice campus, including the administration block, Student Centre, Auditorium and HIV Centre, were set alight as police used rubber bullets and rescued security guards held hostage.
• A Bhisho High Court interim interdict against 10 students bars them from organising protests or disrupting activities, with a return date set for 21 October.
• Police confirmed eight protesters were arrested on charges including public violence and business burglary and they have appeared in the Alice Magistrate’s Court.
• Higher Education Minister Buti Manamela deployed a team led by Prof Ahmed Bawa and Premier Oscar Mabuyane engaged community and church leaders, while the university said the arson reflects organised criminality and investigators probe the attacks.