Pretoria - It is a disgrace that more than twenty years after the ANC government has been in power, the police are still killing unarmed protesters like they did under the darkest days of Apartheid.
A disappointed general-secretary of the National Union of Metalworkers of South Africa, Irvin Jim, made the remarks lambasting the ANC-led government following the fatal shooting of civilian Mthokozisi Ntumba during a clash between students and protesting students on Wednesday.
He said the union condemns in the strongest terms the actions of the police which resulted in the fatal shooting of an unarmed Ntumba who was just passing by as the #Asinamali protests by Witwatersrand University students was unfolding.
Hundreds of students have been protesting at Wits University in Braamfontein demanding access to tertiary education for those who have been financially excluded and have been prevented from registering at the institution because they owe fees.
Protesters have been demanding free education for all and registration for students with historical debt.
He said: "A member of the public who was not involved in the protests was shot by police allegedly at point blank range with rubber bullets. We send our deepest condolences to his family and friends for his untimely passing.
"This incident reminds us of the tragic murder of Andries Tatane a community activist, who was killed whilst protesting over water. He was shot at by police at point blank range with rubber bullets in Ficksburg during a service delivery protest.
"We are not surprised however, because the police have been brutal against even our own members and frequently used unnecessary heavy force, which results in serious injury or even death.
"The role of the security arm of the state in post-apartheid South Africa, is to police poverty and its goal is to protect and secure the wealth of the capitalist system. The working class is frequently exposed to the brutality of the police, the most tragic example of this was the mass murder of unarmed miners in Marikana in 2012. They were killed for simply demanding a living wage."
He said the union was condemning the governing ANC for failing to uphold its promises to the working class.
In 2017, after much fanfare the former president Jacob Zuma announced that poor students would no longer have to pay to access tertiary education.
"The National Student Financial Aid Scheme loan would be converted to grants in order to allow poor students to access tertiary education. We warned that this was nothing more than ‘fake’ free education, because the working class was paying for it through VAT increases which were introduced by the very same ANC government the following year.
"What the ANC should have done was to nationalise the land and the minerals in order to generate the revenue required to fund education for the masses. Now, students are told that there is not enough money from the National Student Financial Aid Scheme to cover their fees, and those who owe historical debt must first pay if they are going to be able register for the academic period.
"Lies have short legs and the government has been exposed, once again, for betraying the working class in the worst way, by denying them access to free quality tertiary education; which they deserve.
He said the working class is suffering because the government has implemented an austerity budget which was delivered by finance minister Tito Mboweni last month. In total the cuts to funding support for higher education amount to over R8 billion for the next four years.
This is happening against a backdrop of increased unemployment. StatsSA confirmed that in the last quarter the unemployment rate increased to 32.5% as the number of jobless people grew to 7.2 million people in the fourth quarter of 2020.
The expanded definition of unemployment which includes people who have given up looking for work is now at a staggering 42,6%.
"We support the demands made by students and we call on all progressive formations to support students in their just demand for free education," he added.
Pretoria News