Last week South Africans had their eyes on universities across the country in anticipation of Fees Must Fall Reloaded. This followed after the South African Union of Students (SAUS) called for a nationwide shutdown of universities, which came in response to Higher Education and Training Minister Blade Nzimande’s decision to postpone an announcement about 2017 university fees on August 12. The Department of Higher Education and Training released a media statement that day explaining that there was a need “to gather further views and suggestions before proceeding with any announcement”.

University of Johannesburg (UJ)
On Monday, August 15, students protested outside UJ’s Doornfontein campus for free education. According to eNCA it was Congress of South African Students (Cosas) that organised the protest. The protesters included high school students. The students sang and marched as they went to Doornfontein campus. Some had carried signs saying “Fees must fall” & “Free education”. During the protest students burned bins but when students attempted to start burning tyres, the police began to disperse the crowd.

The following day, the UJ Student Representative Council (SRC) sent students an SMS communicating their stance on a nationwide shutdown. The SRC also said that it was currently speaking to the relevant stakeholders of the university. The SRC explained that it was “not against the call made by both national executive committees of SASCO and SAUS for national shutdown of institutions as a call for free quality education”. Further, the SRC said “all operations on all the UJ campuses will continue as normal until further notice”.

University of Cape Town (UCT)
At UCT there were no protests. On August 17 the SRC released a statement addressing students on the 2017 fee increment and concerns around a shutdown, the SRC’s future funding campaigns and the NSFAS central model.

The SRC had announced “that we are not in support or would we implement a shutdown at this time”. In the statement, the SRC explained that “a shutdown is an unappealing means of collective protest given the very real threat of state violence as suggested by the heavy police presence at Wits and the University of Pretoria”. The SRC also said that mass protest action would be considered once every other avenue had been exhausted.

University of KwaZulu-Natal (UKZN)
UKZN also experienced shutdowns at the Pietermaritzburg and Westville campuses last week. Protests began at the Pietermaritzburg campus on August 15 which continued throughout the week and spread to the Westville campus. On Monday morning, more than 200 students gathered to protest about fees and living conditions. Students blocked the road with stones and burning tyres. Subsequently, the university decided to suspend all academic activities for August 15 and 16. However on Wednesday protests continued to disrupt academic activities and on Thursday, the university decided to further suspend all academic programmes until this week.

On August 18 two students were arrested during the protest for being in possession of dangerous weapons. In an interview with IOL, university spokesman Lesiba Seshoka urged students “to adhere to the university’s rules, regulations and applicable protocols in dealing with grievances”. Dailyvox reported last Friday UKZN’s SRC’s were scheduled to meet with the provincial government to discuss the terms of the continued shutdown and general issues raised by students.

University of Witwatersrand (Wits)
Wits was another university that operated as usual and did not experience any protests. The Wits SRC has decided to have discussions with the relevant stakeholders concerning the fee increment for 2017. In a statement released on August 15, the SRC expressed its stance on the fee increment, saying “there can be no increment in any student fees until the realisation of free and quality education”.

The Wits SRC had also set up “an online survey/questionnaire that students can complete regarding when and how they feel education should be realized”. The SRC communicated that once the consultations had happened, there would be a mass meeting with the date and venue still to be confirmed.

Written by Jody Davison