Over the past few days, thousands of protesters in South Africa have been speaking out against the government’s decision to raise school fees by 10.5%.
The protesters believe the rise in tuition will make tertitary education unaffordable and will prevent poor black students from accessing and benefitting from education. Demanding instead for institutions to provide free education for all.
The hashtags #FeesMustFall, #NationalShutDown and #ZumaMustFall have been trending on social media and the important message is being received all over Africa and all around the world.
If your child was born in 2015, by the time they reach 18, university fees for an average 4-year degree could cost R1.2M #FeesMustFall
The protests began on Monday with students barricading a number of South African campuses including the University of Cape Town and University of the Witwatersrand in Johannesburg. Today, over a dozen universities have been involved in the demonstrations.
But what was originally intended as a peaceful protest that demanded answers from the ANC, resulted in policemen releasing teargas, stun grenades and arresting students.
Overall, many South Africans feel this is a mirror event to the Soweto uprising in 1976 when students protesting against apartheid language policies were fired on by police.
The only thing that changed is the quality of our cameras . Our leaders have failed us pic.twitter.com/iZMqAjKeYn
South African President, Jacob Zuma, is reportedly planning to meet with student leaders and university administrators today according to his spokesman, Bongani Majola. We hope that an agreement can be made. In the meantime, our thoughts remain with our South African brothers and sisters.
In 2015, quality education should really be free for all.
