WATCH: KZN students unite for #FeesMustFall march
KZN students give Berea Mail insight into their struggle and the reason behind the #FeesMustFall march in the city tomorrow.
A GROUP of students representing KwaZulu-Natal universities gathered at the Durban Harbour this evening to express their feelings and explain why they will embark on a mass protest march tomorrow under the KZN #FeesMustFall.
The students call on civil society organisations, religious and faith based organisations, street vendors, workers, unemployed youth ad all corners of society to join the march on Tuesday, 11 October at 9am from Curries Fountain to Durban City Hall and the Durban Harbour.
Before reading out a statement from the united KZN student body which included DUT, UKZN, UNIZULU, UNISA, MUT as well as colleges around Durban, Nompilo Mkhize read two quotes from Frantz Fanon: “Each generation should discover its mission, fulfill it or betray it in relative capacity.”
“When we revolt it is not for a particular culture. We revolt simply because, for many reasons, we can no longer breathe.”
“In 2015, the greater student population of this country made the call for Free Decolonial Education. Since then, we have witnessed how this call has fallen on deaf ears. Our call has been met with the victimization and brutalization of the student population across the country. We have also witnessed how this has been used to criminalise students. The management of educational institutions across the country have actively participated in criminalising students, as we have seen with the countless interdicts, arrests and subsequent criminal charges, suspensions and expulsions that have been meted out against students,” Mkhize explained.
Fees Must Fall is a movement that agrees with the Philosophies of Black consciousness, Pan Africanism and Black radical feminism. It seeks to decolonise and decommodify education in South Africa. It is an interlocking and intertwined struggle that seeks to liberate the black child.
It is no secret that institutions of education, from Early Childhood Development all the way to institutions of higher learning, do not cater for the development of the black child and specifically, the black woman. Even when brutality is meted out, the bodies of black women become the most victimised. We saw this when a student was raped by a police officer at UKZN PMB campus.
We call on all students, as well as broader society, to stand in solidarity with us and demand a safe learning environment, where young minds can be allowed to develop intellectually and without fear of victimization. It cannot be that when students demand a basic right, we are met with brutality.
* We demand that the University and Government work with us in making Free Education a reality NOW.
* We demand the end of brutality on the student population.
* We demand an end to the normalised violation against black bodies, more especially against the bodies of black women! It cannot be that students are raped and brutalised, and nothing is done.
* We demand the dropping of all charges against the students. They are students fighting for a noble cause and not criminals.
“When we revolt it is not for a particular culture. We revolt simply because, for many reasons, we can no longer breathe.” – Frantz Fanon
The students activists in their personal capacity, free of political affiliations told Berea Mail they came together at a meeting last month after realising they were facing the “same struggles” decided to take their struggle to the streets.
“We want to put pressure on the private sector and hear their voice that is why we want to march to the Durban harbour,”said one of the students.
Another said government should stop using apartheid tactics on students. “Stop using brutality on students, rather ensure police concentrate on crime. Don’t leave us to be prostitutes or drug ad whoonga addicts. We want to study ad have a bright future,” he added.
Stembiso Kashandu, said students had been denied the right of response for far too long and both government ad Universities were not engaging with the students issues. “We know free education is possible.
“Its not our intention to destroy the academic calendar, we want it to be saved, but the government and VC’s (Vice chancellor’s) are refusing to engage with students.
“It’s high time that all revolutionaries join our revolution for free education, or stand aside and be prepared to watch history being made without them,” Kashadu said.
After the media briefing, the student activists went directly into a prayer meeting vigil with local clergy.
