The campaign and original student protests were born in the University of the Witwatersrand, or WITS. The university told students that increases of 10.5% would come into effect in 2016, and the proposed fees were simply too much for students to cope with in an already taxing economy and with debt levels for students getting out of hand. Protests began, and they soon spread as students through South Africa found common ground.
The hashtag #feesmustfall has given birth to a nationwide movement with universities across South Africa joining the campaign which was started at WITS University. The hashtag has seen social media come alive with students and those who support the campaign using the hashtag to spread their message on platforms such as Twitter, Facebook and Instagram, including students and those not studying but empathising with the students.
The fire that began at WITS University soon sparked throughout South Africa, with students at the University of Cape Town, Rhodes University and others soon protesting the exorbitant fee increases that they found unfair. The closure of Rhodes due to protests, and similar action at UCT began a week after the WTS students closed the university in protest over fee increments and issues with the registration fee being too high to afford. With this, the whole country was affected.
With the #feesmustfall movement gaining momentum in South Africa, and the idea behind it clearly demonstrating a mobilisation of the youth for a worthy cause which needed to be addressed by government, the campaign received support from other countries including the UK, USA, Germany and Cameroon. Messages of support streamed in via social media, while protest action was organised in London and New York in solidarity with the South African protests.
Following pressure on the government from the student protests around the country, president Jacob Zuma was forced to meet with various stakeholders to come to an agreement, and he then addressed the nation, revealing that there would not be any of the proposed increases to university fees for 2016. The president also said that discussions would continue on the broader issues that led to these protests, and that stakeholders would work together to address concerns, so that these protests do not become a fixture in coming years.
On Friday, October 23, protests outside the Union Buildings in Pretoria turned violent when a small group of supporters stormed fences and threw rocks and other objects at police, demanding that South African president Jacob Zuma speak to them directly and explain how he was planning to address their grievances. The president announced a 0% increase on fees, but this was not heard by the protesters, and a small group near the front of the crowd turned violent, as he did not address them directly as they had demanded. The police quickly disbursed the crowd using rubber bullets and stun grenades.
For the moment a 0% fee increase will please many students, who simply cannot afford an increase on fees that are already burdensome for so many, but the long-term aim is for these fees to be a thing of the past, with free tertiary education held up as the objective, so that South African students will be able to further their education and improve their prospects with the support of government, and perhaps the private sector.
Students were so determined to have government and the leadership of universities listen to their needs, that they said they would even be willing to write their examinations on Christmas Day. This is due to the fact that exams have now been pushed back as a result of the protests, and the final tests of the year, which usually take place in November, will be delayed until later in the year, affecting December holidays and possibly the festive season.
Despite a victory for the protesters in South Africa with the announcement that the fees for next year will not increase at all, some protesters are set to continue with their protests in an effort to force government to commit to free education in future. There is wide frustration over the government’s inability to cut widespread poverty and inequality two decades after the end of Apartheid. The protesters wish to pressure government into finding additional money to subsidise universities as debt continues to climb alongside weak economic growth. WITS university has encouraged students to participate in a negotiation process to cover outstanding issues and allow the academic program and examinations to proceed, so that they are able to pass their courses this year.
The #feesmustfall movement has become the biggest student protest in South African democratic history, and of course comparisons have now been made between the current protests and the 1976 youth uprisings against the Apartheid education system. Nearly four decades separate these two protests, but similarities remain, and time will tell whether these protests will produce a positive outcome for students who are looking to further their education in an affordable infrastructure in order to create a better future for themselves.
