Tertiary education is turning into a very dangerous pursuit indeed. Following on the heels of the incident at the University of Johannesburg not too long ago, similar chaos is currently underway at the Vaal University of Technology. Students have been queuing since Monday to get registered for classes, but have been faced with heavy, and some would say aggressive, security.

Security guards at the university have been using pepper spray, tasers and  batons to control the crowds waiting to register. This was in reaction to students who begun pushing each other whilst waiting in line. The university has issued a statement stating that it does not condone the behaviour of the security guards, stating that the firm the university uses is new, and has not yet had to deal with a crowd of this magnitude before.

The university blames the large numbers of people on a misunderstanding of the registration process. Each faculty is allocated a specific day to register, and this is communicated to the student by means of a letter. These pre-determined days are not being adhered to and students are turning up on the wrong days to register for classes.

The Vaal police were not on campus, and were unavailable for comment.

[Source: News24]