Thirteen Rhodes University students, released on warning after being arrested for staging an unlawful protest on Friday, are expected to make their first court appearance on Monday.
They were part of a group of more than 100 students who had taken part in a silent protest outside the 1820 Settlers Monument in Makhanda, where the university was hosting a graduation ceremony for its masters and PHD students.
Police used stun grenades and rubber bullets to disperse the protesters.
Eastern Cape police spokesperson Brigadier Nobuntu Gantana confirmed the arrests.
The students, aged between 19 and 23, had been charged with contravening a court order issued last week which had barred them from continuing their protest action.
"The suspects had been arrested and later release after being warned ... to appear before the Makhanda magistrate's court on Monday," Gantana said.
The public order policing unit had been deployed to the monument on Friday morning to maintain safety during the graduation ceremony.
"At approximately 8.30am, a group of roughly 100 protesters gathered in front of the graduation hall," Gantana said.
"To ensure the safety of attendees and prevent disruptions to the ceremony, the operational commander read [out] a formal court order at 8.38am.
"The order, which was issued by the Makhanda high court, prohibited any protest action aimed at disrupting the graduation proceedings.
"Despite being given ample time and warnings by SAPS officials to disperse peacefully, the crowd refused to comply with the court order.
"Consequently, the public order police moved in to clear the area, utilising stun grenades and rubber bullets to manage the crowd," Gantana said.
Police arrested the 13 protesters after they had refused to leave the graduation hall precinct.
No serious injuries were reported during the protest and police action.
The high court issued an order on Wednesday prohibiting any protest by the students which had the potential to disrupt the graduation ceremony.
Students had taken to the streets since early last week to protest against Rhodes' proposed new fee payment protocol.
The protest was suspended on Wednesday and the university returned to normal academic operations after management and student leaders met to address the dispute.
The Rhodes student representative council (SRC) distanced itself from Friday's demonstration.
In a statement on Friday, it urged students to refrain from further protest action.
"The SRC notes that a silent protest was held at the monument today [Friday], organised by an unidentified group of students.
"We understand that students are frustrated. We understand that students are angry.
"We also understand that these frustrations come from real concerns that deserve to be heard.
"However, we also want to remind students to consider the risks associated with continuing with protest action while the interim interdict remains in place.
"We are aware of calls for protest action to continue.
"The interim interdict remains in place and legally binds students to refrain from protest action.
"Continuing with protest action could have serious legal consequences for students and may place students in unnecessary danger," the SRC said.
It called for the university's management to "put the safety of students first” and urged the police to be lenient on the arrested students, saying some might have not understood the contents of the interdict.
Rhodes spokesperson Olwethu Gwanya said the issues raised by protesting students were being addressed.
"The university remains guided by the engagements and the understandings that we reached with the SRC when we had a meeting with them, where the leadership clearly indicated that the issues they were raising were not being dismissed or discarded or beyond consideration.
“We share their concerns and we understand the financial conditions of our people and of our students, because we are in the same predicament.
"We understand all the recommendations that they are making, but we are saying to them, give us time to model this thing,” Gwanya said.
A student who asked not to be identified said it was sad to see fellow students "being manhandled by police [and] arrested, while they were just sitting down peacefully, and did not disrupt any operations."
Daily Dispatch