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Violent protests force S.African universities to close

– Racial tensions flare –

University vice-chancellors issued a statement saying the wave of unrest was organised by groups “to deliberately disrupt and destabilise our universities through intimidation and violence.”

“We also denounce external parties that increase divisions between our students and staff,” it said, referring to radical activists accused of hijacking the students’ protests.

Elsewhere, racial tension flared up at the Free State University in Bloemfontein when a rugby match was interrupted earlier this week.

Black protesters walked in a line across the pitch during the game, before hundreds of white spectators ran on and a mass brawl erupted.

Workers at the campus in Bloemfontein, most of them black, have been protesting to demand an end to outsourcing – when non-teaching services such as cleaning are taken on by private companies.

Last week the office of the University of Cape Town’s vice chancellor was petrol-bombed, and paintings ripped from walls and burnt outside.

South Africa has been roiled by a string of racial disputes that have exposed deep divisions more than two decades after the end of white-minority rule.

Last year massive protests by students – many of them so-called “born frees” who grew up after apartheid – pushed the government into abandoning planned tuition fee hikes.

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Students at the University of Cape Town also led a high-profile and successful campaign for the removal of a statue of British imperialist Cecil John Rhodes from their campus.

The issue of education fees ignited widespread frustration over a lack of opportunities for young people, worsened by a weakening economy and high unemployment.

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