Eleven University of KwaZulu-Natal (UKZN) students arrested during violent clashes with riot police will spend the next seven days behind bars.

The Pietermaritzburg Magistrate's Court on Friday heard from the State, which was intent on opposing bail, that the eleven posed a danger to the public and property.

The students were detained during a day of running battles with riot police as protests over tertiary education fee hikes wore on.

Lectures at UKZN's Pietermaritzburg campus were suspended on Thursday to give police and security services time to round up "rogue" students.

Several students were injured in exchanges with police and the university said it was investigating claims that live ammunition was used.

Another protester was injured when he lay down on the road and was hit by a car.

The eleven stood in the dock in front of a packed gallery.

Accused number one, who along with his fellow students cannot be named, muttered that he would not "stand for colonial laws" before begrudgingly rising to his feet.

After Magistrate M Boikhutso remanded them in custody, the students' supporters in the gallery erupted in chorus.

As they filed out, Boikhutso warned: "They must understand that if they keep this behaviour up, they will join their friends in the cells."

The eleven will be back in court on September 30.