Johannesburg – EFF leader Julius Malema has encouraged students to continue with the free higher education campaign.
He told students gathered at the Constitutional Court in Joburg on Wednesday that the release of Durban University of Technology (DUT) student Bonginkosi Khanyile on bail was a victory for the movement.
Khanyile, who has been in custody for six months, was on Wednesday released on R250 bail after his counsel and the State reached a settlement.
He has been charged with incitement to commit public violence, illegal gathering, possession of explosives and dangerous weapons, obstructing traffic and causing a nuisance on public roads.
Khanyile approached the Constitutional Court after the Durban Magistrate’s Court denied his bail application twice.
He then approached the Supreme Court of Appeal, which ordered a settlement, but this was still not successful.
The prosecutor and Khanyile’s lawyers reached an agreement on the matter during an adjournment on Wednesday.
The student leader, popularly known as “Education”, was released on bail on condition that he does not obstruct police or security work and does not intimidate staff at the DUT.
Khanyile has been on hunger strike in the Durban Westville Prison, where he had been detained.
Addressing those gathered outside the court on Wednesday, Malema said: “Fellow fighters, Bonginkosi is going home today. He does not belong in jail because he is fighting for a just cause. The ANC is using apartheid tactics by jailing people without trials when they differ with them politically."
“They don’t respect the constitution. Every day when they wake up they urinate on the constitution. If you want to know how they urinate on the constitution, look at who’s occupying the Union Buildings.”
He said the arrest of student leaders was the ANC’s way of trying to collapse the #FeesMustFall movement. “They are trying to distract us, they are trying to collapse #FeesMustFall. To the students: go back and demand that fees must fall,” Malema said.
“When they arrest you, we will pay. This is a victory for FeesMustFall. You will be arrested and then get out on bail. When you are out on bail, go back to the picket lines."
“The unity of black students in the universities is very important. You must soldier on,” he urged.
The EFF national student command secretary Rendani Nematandani echoed Malema’s views: “We are young people and we are still going to fight. This is not the end of free education or #FeesMustFall, it is just the beginning.”
Khanyile’s mother Phumzile Khathini said she was ecstatic that her son had been released on bail. She said: “I am very happy. The judges have done a good job. If he was not released today, I was going to have a negative view of South Africa.
“They did the right thing. My son did not kill anyone.”