South Africa to release over 140 protesters detained for university demo
South Africa will free over 140 students and workers who spent the night in jail after taking part in an illegal protest on the University of Johannesburg campus.
"The process is ongoing, but at the end of the day the 141 protesters will be released," police spokesman Tsekiso Mofokeng said on Saturday.
Mofokeng added that the freed students would be required to appear in court on November 9.
"If they don't appear in court, a warrant of arrest will be issued," he said.
The protest on Friday defied a ban on campus demonstrations during the period allocated to student exams.
The demonstration came just two weeks after tens of thousands of students staged a series of protests to oppose a rise in university tuition fees. The protests succeeded in getting the government to scrap the hike in fees.
However, students are angry over a lack of opportunity in a country with about a 50-percent rate of youth unemployment.
Joblessness has been extremely high in post-apartheid South Africa, as the country has struggled with many changes after decades of apartheid rule, or racial segregation, which lasted during the late 1940s through the 1990s.
While many blacks have risen to middle or upper classes, the overall unemployment rate of blacks worsened between 1994 and 2003.
South African universities have been the scene of regular protests this year, with demonstrators calling for a reform in government policies.
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