The 2016 Sun International CEO SleepOut is due to take place tonight, with many high-profile CEOs braving the cold to sleep on the Nelson Mandela Bridge in Johannesburg.

According to reports by journalists at the scene, before the event got underway protesters tried to enter the area where the SleepOut was being held – resulting in the police firing rubber bullets to disperse them.

According to eNCA, a group of EFF members marched on the Nelson Mandela Bridge where the event was taking place.

A student leader who spoke to the Northcliff Melville Times said the protesters were shocked at being “attacked so brutally by police”.

“We started protesting at around 4pm this afternoon because of the living conditions of the place where we stay and to our surprise stun grenades and rubber bullets were shot at us,” he said.

He told the newspaper that the protest was a “combined effort of Wits, UJ, Rosebank College, and Damelin students, and was led by the student body of the EFF”.

The protesters dispersed after the police took action against them.

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