Durban -In a bid to have convicted #FeesMustFall activist Khanya Cekeshe pardoned, a group of about 32 students, led by fellow activist Bonginkosi Khanyile, walked from KwaZulu-Natal to the Union Buildings in Pretoria to hand over their memorandum to President Cyril Ramaphosa.
Cekeshe is serving an eight-year sentence at Leeuwkop Prison, for setting a police van alight during student protests in 2016.
The Joburg student was denied leave to appeal his sentence last year.
According to Khanyile, the nearly 500km walk, which began on December 18 and ended on Wednesday, was a success.
In August, Khanyile and his mother camped outside the Union Buildings, calling for a presidential pardon for activists convicted during the protests.
Khanyile is out on bail on charges related to violent student protests in Durban and is expected to be sentenced later this month.
Speaking to the Daily News yesterday, Khanyile said they handed over their memorandum to Presidency Director-General Dr Cassius Lubisi at the Union Buildings.
They also met the Cekeshe family and visited Cekeshe in prison.
Khanyile said if the youth of the country wanted to make a change it had to start with them, as individuals, and being prepared to make sacrifices.
He said one of the biggest challenges they faced was finding shelter to sleep along the way, often they slept on the road side.
“The rain also gave us some challenges - I remember along the way, on a national freeway, there was no shelter in sight for about 50km,” he said.
Khanyile said food was another challenge but South Africans along the route provided them with food.