Protests mar the re-opening of Witswatersrand University in South Africa

Protests marred the re-opening of Witswatersrand University in Johannesburg, South Africa.

The protesters hurled rocks at shield-wielding private security guards while police fired rubber bullets and teargas to disperse the crowd at the university campus.

A university spokeswoman earlier said the university had reopened.

In a subsequent statement, Wits said: “The majority of lectures resumed this morning but were then disrupted by large groups of protesters.”

This is the fourth week of protests sparked by a government proposal to raise university tuition fees by up to 8% in 2017.

The protests are said to have spread to a number of other universities in the country.

Last week, South Africa president Jacob Zuma voiced his concern at the protests saying that they have caused about $44 million in property damage and threatened to sabotage the country’s system of higher education.