South African students gathered in Pretoria as President Jacob Zuma meets with their leaders following days of protests over university tuition fee increases.
Angry students have rallied nationwide all week to demand cancellation of the fee increase set to go into effect next year.
Zuma will meet with student leaders and university administrators Friday in an effort to quell the growing protests.
“It is important that we work together to find solutions,” Zuma said. “Nobody disagrees with the message that students from poor households are facing financial difficulties and possible exclusion.”
Nervous students awaited the talks at Union Buildings, the official seat of the government in Pretoria, where police and multiple armored personal carriers waited.
Students are excited and nervous, said Pontsho Pilane, a student leader at University of Witwatersrand. She said buses packed with students have come from Johannesburg.
“We are worried about the police response,” she said. ?
Days of protests
Throngs gathered Thursday outside the ruling party’s African National Congress office to present a list of demands.
“The honeymoon is over,” students said as they handed their conditions outside the office in Johannesburg.
Demands include scrapping fee increases. Initially, the fees were to go up by 10%, but the government lowered it to 6%.
#FeesMustFall
Protests have raged since Monday, with demonstrators barricading entrances to campuses, including the University of Cape Town and University of the Witwatersrand in Johannesburg.
More than a dozen universities are shut down because of the protests. Students are using the hashtag #FeesMustFall to rally on social media.
Lawmakers trapped
At the height of the protests, students stormed parliament in Cape Town on Wednesday, trapping lawmakers.
They pushed past guards and pried open gates. Once inside parliamentary grounds, they sat in front of the building to block lawmakers from getting out.
Students clashed with the police, whom they accused of using tear gas to disperse crowds.
The South African Police Service said it arrested six students for “illegal protests” in Cape Town.