Student believes fees must fall
JOBURG - With the recent countrywide student protests over university fee hikes, Midrand resident and Rhodes University student, Mahlatse Moloto, gives a written account of the protests at the university. Moloto was a former intern at Caxton Joburg North.
THE atmosphere at Rhodes University has certainly changed after the past week of protesting from 19 to 23 October.
Most of the students who were initially docile and naïve about the #FeesMustFall campaign became politically aware and actively involved in the protests.
What started off as a small group of tired students during the early hours of the morning of 19 October, turned into a gathering of hundreds of students mobilising and guarding barricades to all entrances to the university on a daily basis.
The movement was started by the students for the students, and planned on shutting down the university to fight for student fees to fall. This was followed by a national shutdown of all universities on 21 October as students united in solidarity.
The struggle was met with mixed emotions – on the one hand there were eager ‘comrades’ who were willing to jeopardise their academic work to protest, and on the other, many students saw the protest as an inconvenience.
The protest was aimed at an array of issues stemming from the protests at the University of the Witwatersrand and University of Johannesburg. The main goal was the lowering of student fees nationally in a campaign that aims to fight for free education in the country. The fact that education is a privilege and not a right, as it should be in this country, weighed heavily on the hearts of every protester.
The demands given to the management of Rhodes University were met. These demands included that no student would be victimised for being part of the protest, no student would be financially excluded, there would be a 0 percent increase of fees for 2016 as per President Jacob Zuma’s assurance, and no interest would be charged on student accounts, among others.
However, the struggle for free education still has a long way to go. There are still students who believe that fees have not fallen, only the increase of fees has, which remains a problem.
The fight continues, the struggle continues, students will continue to rally and support the national conversation at Rhodes. This will go down in history. The revolutionaries leading this movement will never be forgotten. It’s not over – #FeesWillFall #Asijiki.
