Student violence shocks Cyril

CONVENTION CALLED OFF

The violence and disruption of the higher education national convention called by retired deputy chief justice Dikgang Moseneke was “totally unacceptable” and a lost opportunity for students to express their views on the thorny issue of fees, Deputy President Cyril Ramaphosa said yesterday.

“What the whole nation saw was an ugly scene at a convention that had been called to find solutions with all role players, particularly the students themselves. This was a great opportunity for them to consolidate their views and put them across in an organised way,” Ramaphosa told journalists at the National Skills Conference in Pretoria.

“It is unacceptable, the type of unruly behaviour, when we are trying to chart a way forward for the future of our students.”

Ramaphosa emphasised the unruly behaviour witnessed at the convention had no place in a civilised South Africa.

“We are supposed to be people who are disciplined, people who are able to tolerate one another, and to tolerate divergent and different views. More importantly, we should be a South Africa of people who always, in adverse conditions, find solutions,” said Ramaphosa.

“This is not us. That is not how we are and that is not how we have evolved as a nation.”

The deputy president said the problems bedevilling the higher education sector would not be solved by breaking chairs and throwing bottles around. “You resolve problems by sitting down and talking them through.”

Moseneke had to call off the two-day national convention after repeated incidents of violent disruptions. The convention at the Eskom Learning Academy was meant to zoom into issues affecting the embattled higher education sector. – ANA