Angry UNISA students stone Vice Chancellor with dead pigeon

Students of the University of South Africa (UNISA), Pretoria have hurled a dead pigeon at the Vice Chancellor of the institution, Professor Mandla Makhanya.

The incident happened at a meeting between students and management, following a protest over school fees and the closure of rural exam centers across the province.

About 1000 students had protested outside the city campus, forcing riot police to close several streets.

Led by union leaders who read out a memorandum to the university management, the students jeered Makhanya as he tried to address them.

A student then hurled the dead bird at him.

But the UNISA spokesperson, Martin Ramotshela, said the meeting was fruitful despite the incident.

"The outcome is simple. The students had requested to meet the VC and hand their memorandum over to him personally," Ramotshela said.

"He travelled to Durban so that he could receive their document and that is why he was here today," he said.

"They read it out and he received it with a list of their issues. "This is with an agreement that the parties will start proper engagements on Monday with a view to find a resolution by Thursday."

UNISA, a dedicated open distance education institution, is the largest university on the African continent with over 300,000 students.

It was founded in 1873 as the University of the Cape of Good Hope.