SOUTH Africa’s ruling ANC party condemned the escalating violence by student protesters, urging a return to talks yesterday.

The movement spoke out a day after three security guards narrowly escaped death in a petrol bomb attack by protesters on their control room at the Cape Peninsula University of Technology.

And in the coastal city of Durban two individuals — one of whom was not a student — were arrested over arson attacks on a halls of residence TV room and a lecture theatre.

ANC spokesman Zizi Kodwa called the involvement of the non-student “a clear indication that these protests have been hijacked by sinister opportunistic elements.

“Violence and anarchy, including calls for ungovernability, must be rejected and condemned by all those in our society with a genuine interest in functional institutions of learning that contribute effectively to our country’s long-term development,” he said.

Mr Kodwa said the rampage of vandalism showed the “Fees Must Fall” protests were “no longer solely concerned with the very real dilemma of the cost of education.”

He reiterated the government’s long-standing commitment to free education for the poor, which was illustrated last month when Higher Education Minister Blade Nzimande raised the household income threshold to qualify for tuition grants from 120,000 rand (£6,500) a year to 600,000 rand (£33,000).