Johannesburg - Although protests continued, curfew times will be relaxed given the incident-free weekend, University of the Witwatersrand spokeswoman Shirona Patel said on Monday
“As from today, Monday, 24 October 2016, students need to remain within their residences or areas of study from 1am to 5am.
“Should you wish to leave a learning venue during this period, you will be escorted back to your residences by Campus Control, who will be stationed outside these centres. These are temporary measures that are being progressively lifted as the situation stabilise,” Patel said.
The curfew would be further relaxed on Tuesday should the situation on campus remain the same.
The curfew, initially set at 10pm, was last week extended to midnight, but was met with resistance from protesters who defied the curfew and continued to gather at campus at night.
The university said there were no violent incidents reported at campus over the weekend.
On Sunday night Wits students held a night vigil against “police brutality” at the campus after several students were injured when police used rubber bullets during a standoff on Friday.
This is the last week of lectures at the institution before the start of the final end of year examinations.
Students at public universities have been protesting for weeks demanding free higher education under #FeesMustFall campaign.
The protests, which have been marred by violence and destruction of university property, have seen running battles between students and police continue.
Meanwhile four Wits students charged with violating the institution's court order were on Monday released on R1 000 bail each by the Hillbrow Magistrate's Court.
The four were arrested on Friday at the Wits medical campus for allegedly disrupting lectures - a violation of a court interdict secured by the institution.
Groups of students accompanied by workers sang outside court after marching from the campus earlier to lend support to the four.
African News Agency