Drugs and alcohol are believed to be at the centre of the ongoing fights between students and security guards at the Walter Sisulu University.
On Sunday a fight broke out between WSU students and Fidelity security guards at the Nelson Mandela Drive learning site.
Police used teargas to disperse a group of students that had gathered by the main gate after they chased away the security guards.
University spokeswoman Yonela Tukwayo said the management was aware of what had happened at the Mthatha campus.
"The reason is there are people from outside who were part of the drug ring, others drug lords that were using the university as a distribution point as well as a market for them," she said.
Tukwayo said with the recent drug bust last week and the confiscation of alcohol from illegal shebeens that were operating on campus, “we have obviously stepped on their territories of powerful individuals who are seemingly powerful in the criminal world”, she said.
They came with cars full of alcohol distributing it free to students to induce the students to fight against the security guards for it to be expelled from the university.
“At this moment, as the management we are still standing our ground because we know that there are going to be unhappy people when we bust drug trafficking that is happening on the campus and through our other campuses," she said.
She said, at the moment it was not easy on the campus, "there is a lot of fighting between security guards and students, but provincial police are assisting us greatly", she said.
There has been tensions between the students and the security guards, with students accusing the security guards of being very harsh towards them.
Student Sinelizwi Mantanganyi said students were tired of being victimised by the security guards. Mantanganyi said Sunday’s incident started when the security guards assaulted a group of students at the entrance of the university.
"The students had returned from a shop across the road. It is not clear what they did that caused the security guards to beat them, but in the past, the security have made it a hobby to just assault students without any reason," he said.
Mantanganyi has defended the stance taken by the students removing the security guards.
"Just last week a student was assaulted for making noise at the study centre, how do you explain that?" he asked.
WATCH: Alcohol and drugs cause of fights between WSU students and guards
Drugs and alcohol are believed to be at the centre of the ongoing fights between students and security guards at the Walter Sisulu University.
On Sunday a fight broke out between WSU students and Fidelity security guards at the Nelson Mandela Drive learning site.
Police used teargas to disperse a group of students that had gathered by the main gate after they chased away the security guards.
University spokeswoman Yonela Tukwayo said the management was aware of what had happened at the Mthatha campus.
"The reason is there are people from outside who were part of the drug ring, others drug lords that were using the university as a distribution point as well as a market for them," she said.
Tukwayo said with the recent drug bust last week and the confiscation of alcohol from illegal shebeens that were operating on campus, “we have obviously stepped on their territories of powerful individuals who are seemingly powerful in the criminal world”, she said.
They came with cars full of alcohol distributing it free to students to induce the students to fight against the security guards for it to be expelled from the university.
“At this moment, as the management we are still standing our ground because we know that there are going to be unhappy people when we bust drug trafficking that is happening on the campus and through our other campuses," she said.
She said, at the moment it was not easy on the campus, "there is a lot of fighting between security guards and students, but provincial police are assisting us greatly", she said.
There has been tensions between the students and the security guards, with students accusing the security guards of being very harsh towards them.
Student Sinelizwi Mantanganyi said students were tired of being victimised by the security guards. Mantanganyi said Sunday’s incident started when the security guards assaulted a group of students at the entrance of the university.
"The students had returned from a shop across the road. It is not clear what they did that caused the security guards to beat them, but in the past, the security have made it a hobby to just assault students without any reason," he said.
Mantanganyi has defended the stance taken by the students removing the security guards.
"Just last week a student was assaulted for making noise at the study centre, how do you explain that?" he asked.
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