Violence erupts as students stand firm
PROTESTING students remained resolute in their call for free, decolonised education, vowing to shut down universities until President Jacob Zuma and Higher Education and Training Minister Blade Nzimande respond to their demands.
Finance Minister Pravin Gordhan accepted the memorandum of demands from the students, before violent scenes erupted outside Parliament during his mini-budget speech.
Police fired stun grenades and rubber bullets to disperse thousands of students, who were demanding Nzimande address them. Police were pelted with stones as protesting students barricaded the roads with burning bins.
A student was injured after falling off a moving police Nyala. Some shops and stalls around Parliament shut their doors and motorists were diverted.
Robbie Roberts, director of law enforcement in the City, said stores in Plein and Roeland streets were damaged.
“We are following incidents of broken windows in these streets, but no looting was committed. A law enforcement, metro police and two police vehicles and a MyCiTi bus were damaged, and one private vehicle.
He said one protester was injured after being hit with a rock by another protester and is in hospital.
“No arrests had been made and if any persons had their vehicles damaged, they can lay charges. Police can then access CCTV footage to identify individuals responsible.”
Police will be monitoring university campuses for the next 24 hours and the City stands ready to assist, he added.
Among the universities represented in yesterday’s march were Cape Peninsula University of Technology (CPUT), UWC, Tshwane University of Technology, Stellenbosch University, Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University and the University of KwaZulu-Natal (UKZN).
They were joined by various religious leaders and concerned parents who were in solidarity with their march.
A student CPUT leader said: “The minister has received the memorandum. He is not taking us seriously, he is in a rush, but we will continue with the programme.”
A UKZN #FeesMustFall leader said: “If they approach us with violence, we will respond with violence. We are calling for the release of our cadres at UKZN who were arrested.
“We are resolute. We are ready to fight if you want to fight us. We are going to be violent if you are violent.”
In their memorandum, the students said the finance minister must introduce corporate and education tax for the wealthy and all monopoly industries on the JSE, so that free, quality education can be implemented from January.
“There must be a debt clearance for students by National Treasury and the private sector. There must be no form of exclusionary (conditions) for the next academic year by all universities in the country.”
The students said they wanted their campuses demilitarised through the removal of private security personnel and police.
“Dissolve CPUT, UWC, UCT and Stellenbosch University councils as they do not represent the democratic values and principles of the country and are to blame for the ongoing impasse on campus.”
The Concerned Parents Association promised their “unequivocal and unreserved support of the students in as far as their quest for free education is concerned”.