“We are agitated due to comparison”: the students of #FeesMustFall
As told to: I don’t care, who are you, go away!
Siwongiwe Mata is a first-year BA Anthropology student whose face got burnt by a stun grenade last week when police tried to disperse students near the university entrance.
What solidarity looks like
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 .
Fencers remain hopeful despite shutdown hurdles
The Wits Fencing team remain hopeful the Eastern Cape Open despite training venues being closed due to the #FeesMustFall shutdown.
Protesters take on task to tell their own story
Two students who are volunteers of the media task team took to the front of the marches to do coverage of the days events.
Media and parents lambasted at #FEES2017 public meeting
A group of academics from the University of Johannesburg and Wits University facilitated a public meeting on #Fees2017.
Wits to investigate stone-throwing individuals from private security company
INJURED: The hand of a student who had been hit by one of the hurling rocks thrown by Wits’ private security. Photo: Nasya Smith
A private security company whose employees were in a stone-hurling clash with students on the Great Hall steps on Tuesday have not had their contract terminated though Wits is investigating individuals, the university said.
This comes after allegations that Wits had cancelled the contract with the company after its security guards retaliated against stone-throwing students by throwing stones themselves. Wits spokesperson Shirona Patel dismissed these claims saying the university had opened an investigation and would wait until it has concluded to decide on anything.
“The head of security is currently compiling a report and based on that report, they’ll decide whether they terminate the contract or not,” she said. The investigation report is expected to be out in “a day or two”.
Patel said she could not confirm which company had security guards involved in the stone throwing but the investigation was set out to identify individuals that were involved in the scene.
Wits Vuvuzela spoke to Diligence Security Services, which confirmed that they had guards deployed at Wits on the day and that some of them had stones hurled at them. Another security company, Fidelity Security Services, said that they didn’t have any extra security of their own at the Great Hall but confirmed that the security guards at the Great Hall were deployed Diligence Security guards.
#Feesmustfall2016 Explained: Why Witsies are protesting
ASSEMBLE: Students begin to organise at Solomon House on Monday following a fees announcement by Minister of Education Blade Nzimande.
Let’s say you were in a lecture yesterday when email came in advising you to leave campus because a protest had broken out. Even better your tutorial was disrupted by a group of protesters calling for a campus shut down.
You’ve checked your Twitter feed to get the scoop on what’s actually happening and although you have an idea of what #Fees2017 means, you require a lot more clarity on the issue? Well we hope the next few points will clear things up for you.
What did Blade say?
In yesterday’s press conference the Minister of Higher Education and Training Blade Nzimande announced that university councils had to determine their own fee increases for 2017, however the increase should not be above 8%. This increase would not apply to students on the government loan scheme NSFAS and students belonging to the “missing middle” whose families earn too much to qualify for NSFAS but too little to afford fees. In Nzimande’s definition this would be students whose families make less than R600,000 a year.
What does this mean for students?
So essentially students that qualify for NSFAS and are granted the bursary will pay the same fees in 2017 that they paid in 2016. Nzimande says students who make up the missing middle will also in effect pay the same fees as 2016, with their 8% increase subsidised by the government.
In other words rich students have to pay the 2017 increase.
So then why are students protesting?
So far students have said they were protesting because they felt that the real issue of free, decolonised education has not been addressed since last year’s protest. But there is not agreement on what free education means, who should get it, as well as when it should be realised.
The Wits Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) Student Command students said they were protesting for free higher education now.
On the other hand the Wits SRC, which constitutes of only ANC-aligned Progressive Youth Alliance (PYA) members, have called for a moratorium on all fee increases until free higher education is attained.
Students have also complained about the fact that a fee “freeze” is not the same as a fee reduction. Students who were struggling with fees in 2015 and 2016 are likely to face the same problems in 2017 if fees remain unchanged.
So what’s certain at this point?
Two points. Students have rejected the work of the Fees Commission saying instead of looking into the “feasibility” of free higher education the commission needs to focus on how to make it a reality. Students have also asked for the proper implementation of insourcing for workers a move which they say will bring dignity to the workers.
Who is involved in the protest?
Several parties are involved in the movement. Monday’s meeting was called by the Wits SRC, however the Wits EFF and Fees Must Fall–a nonpartisan movement, are also key role players in the protest. In last year’s protests workers joined in solidarity with the student’s call for free education as well as their own issue of insourcing, but they have not been present in this week’s protest so far. It is unclear whether they will join the students at a later stage.
Okay thanks for all that, but what does this mean for the academic programme?
Well classes could be delayed slightly or severely which probably depends on whether the students demands are going to be addressed in a positive manner. It depends on how students and the university deal with each other. Students have vowed to keep campus shut down until their demands are met, meanwhile the university has sent out communique which called on students to come to campus because it will be business as usual. Some arrests of student protesters by the SA police service have already been made.
We will just have to wait and see how the day unfolds as well as the protest at large.
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Wits shutdown underway
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.
UFS to appeal ruling stopping Afrikaans to English teaching change
The University of Free stated has been granted leave to appeal a court ruling against their new English language policy by the Bloemfontein High Court.
Wits students march in solidarity with UKZN
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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Violent protests hit UKZN
Protests have ensued university of Kwa-Zulu Natal, supposedly relating to the pending fee increment across universities.
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