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JOHANNESBURG/CAPE TOWN. — The South African National Editors’ Forum has expressed outrage against attacks on journalists at the University of Johannesburg yesterday evening.

“Private security officials hired by the university attacked journalists and students at the Doornkloof and Kingsway campuses,” Sanef executive director Mathatha Tsedu said in a statement.

“In one chilling incident, a photographer was punched repeatedly in the head, hit with a stick in the stomach, and then pepper sprayed at close range,” the statement says.

“A group of reporters were circled on Joe Slovo Drive, ordered to sit on the road and then pepper sprayed. A photographer was also hit in the face with a plank-like object.”

Tsedu said journalists were only doing their jobs “for the benefit of society” and posed no threat to anyone.

“Yesterday’s incidents are in line with a discomforting trend we have noticed where journalists become targets of private security while covering public protests. Sanef has raised its concerns with the University Vice Chancellor Dr Ihron Rensburg, who condemned the actions and promised to ensure the security teams respect the right of journalists to do their work.”

Sanef has also condemned the hostility of student leaders to journalists and called on them to open channels of communication with media houses if they feel aggrieved by the coverage.

Student leaders have also been encouraged to use available mechanisms such as the Press Ombudsman and the Broadcasting Complaints Commission to get redress.

Meanwhile, a lecture hall caught fire at the University of Johannesburg yesterday afternoon, management said.

A student lecturer alerted management that smoke was coming from the B3 lecture venue. It was locked at the time, UJ spokesperson Kaamini Reddy told reporters. The cause was not immediately known and it was extinguished.

“It’s all wet and there is still a lot of smoke. One of the projectors was damaged during the fire,” Reddy said.

Some of the seats were damaged when the fire was extinguished.

“We are treating it as a crime scene. We have been told that it could be an electrical fire,” she said.

Journalists were not allowed onto the campus. Students have been protesting against university fee increases.

In Cape Town, Rhodes University management says it is outraged at how police manhandled and shot at students on campus.

This after a video taken by student publication, Oppidan Press, shows a male student been dragged to a police van by officers. He was questioning officers on why they opened fire at demonstrators, apparently without provocation. The footage shows a visibly traumatised student, who was apparently hit by a rubber bullet.

Meanwhile, the Independent Police Investigative Directorate (Ipid) says any member of the public who believes the police have engaged in brutality, which amounts to assault, is entitled to open a case. Officers have also been accused of brutality for their conduct at a protest at Rhodes University yesterday.

A video has emerged showing the officers shooting rubber bullets at demonstrating students, as well as dragging a protester along the ground, before he was detained in the back of a van. Ipid’s Robbie Raburabu says the directorate will investigate any complaint that’s reported.

“Police brutality can come in any form, to be more specific it’s assault. An assault can be reported to the police, who in turn report to Ipid as is required by [the directorate]. — News24/EWN