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#feesmustfall: The South African’s student revolt

By ucfuogu, on 27 January 2016

#feesmustfall: South Africa’s student revolt

“Everyone has the right to education. Education shall be free, at least in the elementary and fundamental stages. Elementary education shall be compulsory. Technical and professional education shall be made generally available and higher education shall be equally accessible to all on the basis of merit.” Article 26 (1) of the Universal Declaration of Human right

The debate whether tertiary education should be free or not versus it being affordable, and what exactly is affordability, has been on for a long time. This was the crux of the fees must fall movement in South Africa in 2015. The movement which was started by the Student Representative Council (SRC) of University of Witwatersrand (Wits) gained traction, turning into a national student movement with support from various actors across sectors both nationally and globally.[i]

 

 

Student and outsourced workers of the University of Wits on the Piazza Credit Sara Maani

Student and outsourced workers of the University of Wits on the Piazza Credit Sara Maani

Although much has been written about the protest, my focus here is on the student protest as a movement. Little or no analysis has been done to understand how the protest gained traction; how these collectives of SRCs and other student bodies were able to arrive at a phase of periodic consensus, develop collective intent, mobilise material and social capitals, create synergy, and increase their room for manoeuvre. Also of importance is the criteria for assessing whether the student Collective Strategic Action (CSA) was a success, materially and institutionally. These are a lot to touch on in a single blog post, but the narrative of the event as it unfolds below will gloss over a couple of the issues.

The narrative is divided into three parts with the Wits SRC being the focal core but linked to broader events. The protest period is divided into two phases, while the third part analyses the success of the protest based on criteria proposed by Caren Levy. [i]

 

 

PHASE ONE

Long term goals require long term and sustainable strategies in order for us to be successful. Shutting down the University was a short term strategy used to secure the 0% fee increment, as well as, the other internal demands that were made to Council” Wits Student Representatives 2014/2015 & 2015/2016

The protest which officially started on 14th October, 2015 due to a 10.5% and 6% hike in school and registration fess respectively [iii] lasted till 28th October, 2015. As it progressed the demands were broadened to include an end to outsourcing of university workers, free education, decolonisation of education and educational institutions.

Protests and rallies were held within and outside the school, with key points being to Luthuli House (African National Congress (ANC) Headquarters)[iv] and Union Building in Pretoria. Student support groups, such as food kitchens and tutorial groups, were formed, which played a role in sustaining the spirit of camaraderie.

Student rally in front of great hall in Wits with SRC members spurring the crowd with speeches and songs

Student rally in front of great hall in Wits with SRC members spurring the crowd with speeches and songs

This sustained pressure culminated with a meeting between The President of the Republic of South Africa, President Jacob Zuma, and student leaders from across the various institutions on the 23rd October 2015 (a meeting which the Wits SRC chose to abstain from) at the Union Building in Pretoria, where the 0% fee increment for 2016 was agreed upon amongst other demands. While the 1st phases of the protest can be said to have ended, specifically at Wits on 28th November, with the decision of the Wits SRC to end all protest related activities in order to allow students take their exams after reaching some agreement with the school authority, division and cracks began showing within the coalition. [v]

 

Student Rally at the Union Building in Pretoria Credit Sara Maani

Student Rally at the Union Building in Pretoria Credit Sara Maani

 

PHASE 2

“One needs time to regroup and strategize appropriately with effective tactics. We have won our short term goals through short term strategies. We have won the battle, a great battle, but the war for free education continues with a renewed strategy” Wits Student Representatives 2014/2015 & 2015/2016

The second phase can be said to have begun on 11 January 2016, [vi] although Wits SRC activities were observable right from the first day of resumption. It got to a climax on 12th January 2016 when SRC members were forcibly moved out of Solomon Mahlangu House [vii]. This phase, as shown in the pictures below, witnessed increased presence of security operatives on and around campus, creating the feeling of a police state.

According to a member of the Wits SRC, [viii] a meeting was held the previous night so they decided to sleep over as it was late to go to their respective houses. However, in the earlier hours they were awoken by a combination of policemen and private security operatives. The lady said she was pulled by the hair and that 3 of her compatriot were hospitalised. After, being hurled out of the building their freedom of movement was also curtailed.

When the Wits SRC member was asked the reason for the second round of protest, the response was that it was a continuation of the first phase as their objective of free education had not been achieved. Quoting the SRC member “They have been in power for 21 years yet they have not provided any plan or strategy to make education more accessible to the poor. Now we the student say education must be free and since they said it cannot happen at once, we have decided it must start with non-payment of registration fees”.

However, an agreement was reached by the SRC and school authority 21st January, 2016.

Security operatives watching students and outsourced university workers singing protest songs

Security operatives watching students and outsourced university workers singing protest songs

 

BEING STRATEGIC

If the three criteria proposed by Caren Levy; synergy, multiplier effect, and expanding the room for manoeuvre, are used to measure the success of student’s CSA, the two phases of the protest provide conflicting outcomes. While the first phase can be said to have been successful, at least on the short run, same cannot be said of the second phase.

A key question, in my view, is why the coalition could not succeed on its longer term goal? I will attempt to provide an answer by focusing on three key reasons. First of all, I believe the movement was not able to metamorphose to the next level and develop a collective intent sufficient to continuously propel the coalition. Secondly, I think the second phase was ill timed as most of the old students, who formed the large bulk of people who took part in the rally, were yet to return to campus. Also the SRC, this time around, did not have a broad base, which was an outcome of the tracks which began to show at the end of the first phase.

These paradoxical outcomes point to the notion of “being strategic” as Caren levy argued. However, more pertinent is how movements, such as these, can assess the moment before deciding whether to break and regroup, especially when they have the momentum and are in a position of comparative advantage in respect of power dynamics and relation; or whether to go all out to actualise their goal with the risk of losing all if it cannot be sustained or they loss critical support base; or most importantly explore creative means of combining the two positions, while retreating to re-strategize keeping some kind of visibility. In my view, the last option is the key to being strategic.

 

 

[i] http://citizen.co.za/831588/fees-must-fall-from-london/

[ii] Levy, C. (2007). Defining Collective Strategic Action Led by Civil Society Organisations The Case of CLIFF, India. 8th N-AERUS Conference (pp. 1-29). London: N-AERUS

[iii] http://mg.co.za/article/2015-10-15-wits-fees-protest-intensifies

[iv] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KrSgJkVRzqM , https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2yObA_vuBOI

[v] http://www.bdlive.co.za/national/education/2015/10/26/wits-students-opt-to-extend-protest-action , https://www.enca.com/south-africa/divisions-appear-among-wits-src-leaders

[vi] http://ewn.co.za/2016/01/11/wits-registration-disrupted-by-feesmustfall-protest

[vii] http://www.thenewage.co.za/wits-students-forcefully-removed-from-solomon-house/

Although it is officially the Senate House the students renamed it Solomon Mahlangu House.

[viii] Interview excerpt of the SRC member are credited to Sara Maani


 

Olusegun Ogunleye is a development practitioner with several years working experience in the field of town planning in Nigeria. He has also taken part in urban-based research in Nigeria, London and, Dar es Salaam. His passion lies in the area of urban governance as he sees it as a veritable tool to ensure and enhance the wellbeing of citizens. He also believes in the potential inherent in community-led development as a means of ensuring sustainable development. Olusegun graduated from the MSc Urban Development Planning in 2014.

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