Photo: Wiki CC
Fees must Fall
South Africa has had its share of student activism. In 1976, the Soweto Uprising took place to protest the implementation of Afrikaans as a language of instruction.
Following in their colleagues’ steps, in 2015, a group of students took to the streets to protest the increases in student fees across South African universities.
The protest, which started off at the Universty of Witswatersrand and spread to the University of Cape Town and Rhode University, resulted into the destruction of property worth US$44.25 million.
The protest came to an end a year later when the government said it will not increase fees. It had already spread to other universities resulting in the suspension of academic programmes. The government was not only compelled to prevent any fee increase but to create a bursary program for students. Further, there was a discussion on the treatment of black students and staff in some universities.
