WSU deployed untrained officers to disperse protesting students: SAHRC report

The South African Human Rights Commission has found that officers who responded to a demonstration at the Walter Sisulu University in May 2024 were not properly trained to handle the situation
 
The commission released its report following an investigation into the unrest, where live ammunition was allegedly used on protesting students. 
 
Fourteen students were injured in the demonstration.  
 
The protest at the Walter Sisulu University's Mthatha campus started as a peaceful sit-in.  
 
At the time, students expressed their frustrations about transport allowances, accommodation shortages and administrative inaction. 
 
However, after three days of no response from management, the university deployed a private security company on campus.
 
They used rubber bullets and pepper spray to disperse the students.    
 
This led to the student taking their protest to the N2 highway outside the institution’s Mthatha campus.  
 
The commission has found that although students were not aggressive, the police officers who confronted the students were not trained for public order policing.
 
The 83-page-long report reveals medical and ballistic evidence suggested that live ammunition was used on the protesting students.