Johannesburg - Students from the University of Johannesburg and Witwatersrand refused to allow ANC secretary general, Gwede Mantashe, to address them on Thursday afternoon, saying he should first humble himself.
Thousands of students had marched to the ANC’s headquarters, Luthuli House, to deliver a memorandum, which Mantashe accepted on behalf of the governing party.
The demand from students was three-fold, namely that the ANC-government “immediately” release funds so there are no increases to any university fees, that it prioritises higher education and that outsourcing of university workers ends.
“The ANC has failed to deliver on its promises. Under their rule, there has been a declining contribution to universities. We, a new generation, will no longer tolerate this,” outgoing Wits SRC president, Shaeera Kalla, told Mantashe.
Wits students have been protesting for eight days now, and Kalla said they woke up with a “new energy” each day since, adding this was “just the beginning”.
“Comrades, we agreed we are going to make the powers sit down. You must humble yourselves and sit down like (Wits vice chancellor, Adam) Habib did,” an angry student told Mantashe and others.
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Wits SRC’s incoming president, Nompendulo Mkhatshwa, said they were protesting against a “ridiculous fee increment”, initially set by the university’s council at 10.5 percent.
“We have had police brutally handle us. Our brothers and sisters in Cape Town were shot at. Our brothers and sisters at (the Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University) were shot at,” Mkhatshwa said.
“We have had to clean our own toilets. Our network is down. (University of Pretoria’s) network is down, so we can’t document our struggle. (But) we are alive. We are radical and we are ready to take it to the streets.”
She said the students’ fight for free tertiary education had just begun.
“The fight has not come to an end. We are ready to sleep on cold floors. We are ready to take control of what belongs to us. If the memorandum is not responded to, we will continue to shut down Parliament.” Mkhatshwa said.
Students demanded the ANC implement its own resolution from its national conference in Mangaung in 2012 to provide free education.
“The ANC government will never give us free education. We must take it,” former Wits SRC president, Mcebo Dlamini said.
“Economic freedom begins with free education. The ANC always talks radical, radical, radical. Now this is radicalism… The ANC secretary general is a communist. We will test this today.”
Dlamini called on the ANC to recall Higher Education Minister, Blade Nzimande, saying he could no longer be considered a communist.
The students will march to the Union Buildings in Pretoria on Friday.
Labour Bureau
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