On October, 2016, Student protests broke out over numerous demands not met by the University of Western Cape.

The students began a movement that was birthed from the #fees Must Fall they refer to as #feeswillfall, which includes free black-centered education, the scrapping of all student debt and registration fees, and the prevention of graduation due to outstanding fees.

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Protests escalated in early October throughout the Universities in Cape Town which resulted in the cancellation of the majority of classes.

During the aftermath of such protests, violent conflict escalated among students and the police.

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On Wednesday, October 19th, 2016, clashes between student and the police erupted at UWC.

The police shot rubber bullets into buildings and broke into the dormitories to make arrests.

^{[-1] [-1] [29] [-1]}Later in the evening that Wednesday, about 40 students were arrested and booked - they were denied bail.

27 students were transferred to Pollsmoor Prison.

A hearing will take place on October 28th.

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UWC has decided to cancel all face to face classes but students will be given the opportunity to write their examinations in November 2016, or January 2017.

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