I’ve learnt, not only through my participation and involvement in #FeesMustFall, but my upbringing and other social justice work, that in moments when others aren’t able to carry themselves, I have to extend comradeship in order to continue the cause that we are collectively fighting for .
I still struggle to fully express the thoughts and emotions that ran through me at that moment when I decided to sit in front of heavily armed police officers, I had no ammunition but my books.
By: Fatimata Moutloatse
I had never really imagined how my confrontation with death would present itself. In fact for the longest of time I was quite afraid of death. However once you truly believe in something, you are prepared to fight for it by all means necessary – even if it means dying for it. That is my stance on the liberation of black people.
The #FeesMustFall movement is more than just a “protesting minority who seek to deprive other students of their right to learn”; through access to education this movement seeks to restore the human dignity of the most socially and economically excluded people.
It is no secret that black people form the bulk of the population and are deprived of socio-economic opportunities due to their dispossession during colonialism. Nevertheless, what makes me so frustrated is the fact that people do not seem to take this movement and its general call for free decolonised education seriously. I mean, how can you not take access to education seriously? Especially when most of the societal ills we experience as black people are a result of lack of access to education.
On the other side of the spectrum, the type of education we do have access to seems to further subjugate the black person.
The call for free decolonised education transcends the university spaces and finds its origins within our pre-school and primary school. As an activist within this movement, I realise that our demand can never fully be achieved if we continue to dismiss the appalling conditions of the overall education system in South Afrika. Therefore access to education and a curriculum reform are the right steps to take. Cummon, I mean, take us seriously!
Education cannot mean sending poor South Afrikan youth to institutions hoping to produce a larger labour force which perpetuates a capitalist agenda. Instead education should mean service to Afrika. Service to millions of black people who remain rejected, excluded, displaced and dispossessed due to colonialism. Now if that is not reason enough for people to see the importance of free decolonised education, then I don’t know what is.
Mine is to say that the emancipation of all Afrikans is paramount to the restoration of Azania. I will continue to fight for those who cannot fight for themselves, speak for those who cannot speak for themselves and ultimately teach them enough that they one day will be able to fight and speak for themselves.
I hope history judges you for not fighting for Afrika.
IZWE LETHU MA’AFRIKA
The Chamber of Mines of South Africa have accepted a memorandum from Wits University students.
Management of the University of Limpopo (UL) in Limpopo Polokwane, has suspended all academic activities as a result of the violent student protests that have escalated this week, following the FeesMustFall movement taking place countrywide.
SHUTDOWN: The University of Limpopo has been closed indefinitely after students clashed with police. Photo: Provided
COSATU will join the Fees Must Fall movement and march with students on October 14. (more…)
Wits University has announced an extension of its current shutdown “until further notice.” The university suspended all activities on Tuesday, September 20, after protesting students clashed with private security on the campus.
The statement is reproduced in full below:
“The Senior Executive Team of the University of the Witwatersrand, in consultation with the Executive Committee of Council, today, 23 September 2016, announced that all University operations will remain suspended until further notice.
If conditions conducive to the delivery of the academic programme do not improve, Wits may have to consider the closure of the University, including the residences in the interests of the safety and security of our staff, students and property.
We will keep all stakeholders, including staff, students and parents informed via official communication channels.”
DAY THREE: Wits university FeesMustFall
(more…)
DASO has urged students to focus their attention on funding for poor students in a statement following Blade Nzimande’s announcement this morning.
The Senior Executive Team of Wits has released a statement pertaining to the fees announcement made by Blade Nzimande this morning.
The Academic Staff Association of Wits University has released a statement regarding the announcement by Blade Nzimande on fees for 2017.
Wits University is heading for a shutdown after an announcement by Minister of Higher Education Blade Nzimande that institutions will be left to determine their own fee increases to a maximum of 8% for 2016/2017.
Incoming SRC President Kefentse Mkhari announced the shutdown at Solomon Mahlangu House (Senate House), where students had gathered to listen to the announcement by the minister.
Led by members of the Wits SRC protestors are moving around campus asking students to leave their lectures to join the shutdown. Some students have barricaded the Amic Deck while SAPS continues to maintain a strong presence on campus.
Wits Vuvuzela has seen a letter circulating to staff in the School of Literature, Language and Media advising staff to cancel their lectures and leave campus if they feel “uncomfortable”.
Jean-Claude Mabaso a first year Bcom General was in the library when he heard a library announcement saying: Sorry for the inconvenience but you have to evacuate for your own safety.
By Laura Pisanello and Nozipho Mpanza
TOGETHER WE STAND: Students march in solidarity with students at UKZN at Amic Deck today.
A small group of Wits students held a demonstration on campus today to show solidarity with the students at the University of Kwa-Zulu Natal (UKZN).
The group of about 40 students marched around main campus and were seen on Amic Deck, West Campus and in front of the Great Hall.
“We’re not happy with what’s been going on there. The raping of girls, the shooting of students,” said 3rd year Law and Politics student, Robyn Khumalo.
UKZN has now been closed until Monday September 19, following violent protests on various campuses. The protests are supposed to be in connection with various issues faced by the students at the university including tuition fees, scarcity of accommodation and the presence of private security on campuses.
“We’re saying [that] as students of Wits University, we support them and when one university student is affected, we’re all affected,” said Khumalo.
Students present at the demonstration said it was a leaderless movement. No formal list of demands has been drafted and the students said they were using today’s demonstration to mobilise the campus and recruit numbers.
“The moment that it seems that management is supressing a particular view and is unwilling to engage, it gets us to a point where students are resorting to alternative means of engagement,” said SRC President Nompendulo Mkhatshwa who was participating in the demonstration.
According to those at the demonstration, UKZN students have been protesting for weeks, but received little attention from the mainstream media until university property was damaged. The students expressed frustration at the manner in which issues that arise on campuses that are not Wits or UCT are handled in the media.
“The greatest concern, as student activists and as student leaders, is how quickly the media is to capture the story only once a building has burnt,” said Mkhatshwa.
During interviews, some students accused the SRC of not responding adequately to the issue which has “been happening for the past six weeks”, then subsequently “hijacking” the demonstration.
“When student governance structures are there, there is a level of protection that is then given and it becomes easier to engage management,” said Mkhatshwa in response to the accusation.
VIDEO: Students gathered around Wits Main Campus to show solidarity with students at UKZN.
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