Nine people were arrested after overnight clashes in Johannesburg between police and students demanding free education, police said on Saturday.



The latest skirmishes capped a week of protests on campuses across the country and came just days after President Jacob Zuma appointed a special team to try to diffuse the escalating situation that threatens the academic year at several schools.



Police spokesman Wayne Minnaar said a supermarket had been looted and three cars set alight in an area of Johannesburg adjacent to the University of the Witwatersrand, which has been the scene of some of the most violent demonstrations.



The flare ups over the cost of university education, which is prohibitive for many black students, have highlighted frustration at enduring inequalities more than two decades after the end of apartheid.