List of Demonstrations at UCT
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1972, June, Students holding a protest meeting about apartheid education on the steps of St George’s Cathedral, Cape Town in the misguided belief that, because it was private property and a church, they would be safe, were baton-charged. Fifty-one students were charged with breaking municipal regulations. Further protests in Cape Town city were banned under the Riotous Assemblies Act and a protest about the police action, again on St George's Cathedral steps, was dispersed with tear gas and rubber batons. A further protest, this time on the steps of Jameson Hall at the University of Cape Town ("UCT") was also dispersed by the police with rubber batons, dogs and tear-gas. The Council of UCT under the leadership of the principal and vice-chancellor, Sir Richard Luyt, obtained an interdict to prevent the police entering its private property.
In the ensuing weeks, small groups of students (to avoid constituting an illegal assembly) stood on a building in the Rose Garden of UCT, overlooking De Waal Drive, to continue the protest.
In the course of these protests a large number of students were arrested and charged under the Riotous Assemblies Act. Some were convicted by magistrates but later acquitted on appeal. Some students, funded by the National Union of South African Students ("NUSAS") took the government to court and obtained out of court settlements, which were given to NUSAS.
1987, April, the police invaded the UCT campus in retaliation to student march in Rondebosch, and placard protests on the verge, entrances and rugby field. Teargas and rubber bullets used against 100 students. Cops shambock women in the Jagger Library, causing over 500 students to become involved in unrest that saw some arsonists torch an SAB-Miller delivery truck behind the Students Union.
1988, August, 3000 students marched in opposition to the banning of the End Conscription Campaign
2006, October, a go-carting event turned nasty as students rioted in support of a "bergie" or homeless person trying to participate in the event.
