UPDATE: Wits march is rescheduled
JOBURG – Wits students have set their sights on National Treasury where they hope to meet with several ministers in their bid to get free education for all.
The student march to National Treasury in Pretoria will only happen in the “upcoming days”.
Wits University students plan to take their grievances to National Treasury in Pretoria where they hope to meet several ministers including the Minister of Higher Education Blade Nzimande, Minister of Human settlements, Lindiwe Sisulu and Minister of Finance Pravin Gordhan among others.
They wanted to do so on 30 September, but the Wits Student Representative Council announced on Twitter that the march was rescheduled. The group also mentioned that a meeting would take place on the day, and they “are in communication with our comrades at various institutions to reinforce our fight for free and quality Education”.
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Ncebo Dlamini, former Wits Student Representative Council president, said that they plan to also meet other important stakeholders.
Wits students have asked the Chamber of Mines and Congress of South African Trade Unions (Cosatu) to support the cause of free education.
Last year, students descended on the Union Buildings in their thousands where President Jacob Zuma announced a zero per cent fees increase for 2016. There was chaos as students threw rocks at the Union Buildings while police responded with stun grenades, water tankers and rubber bullets. Students had also lit fire to the public toilets that were set up.
Several universities across South Africa have been protesting since the Minister of Higher Education Nzimande announced that universities could raise fees up to eight per cent with the University of Fort Hare announcing that they would not be raising fees.
There has already been much violence and damage to property this year, and Nzimande estimates that the damage caused to universities thus far has amounted to R500 million in total.
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