On October 3, three entrances to the University of Cape Town (UCT), South Africa, were blocked by students protesting for free education. At the upper north entrance group of 20 sat in the road, in front of police and private security, to hamper vehicles attempting to reach campus. The group of 20, swelled to almost three hundred as they walked to campus, disrupting lectures and set off fire alarms. For the a second year, South African university students are fighting for free education. The government is struggling to find the money and Universities say they can't survive without fees.
On October 3, three entrances to the University of Cape Town (UCT) were blocked by students protesting for free education. At the upper north entrance group of 20 sat in the road, in front of police and private security, to hamper vehicles attempting to reach campus. For the a second year, frustrated South African university students are baying for free education. The government is struggling to find the money and Universities say they can't survive without fees. The reopening of UCT follows #feesmustfall protests that flared across South Africa, for a second year. This was the due date set by Max Price, UCT Vice Chancellor, who said if the campus was not running, the university would have to close for the rest of the year. It could mean thousands of students expecting to work in 2017, including 400 of the 4,500 medical students, will not graduate and create a black hole for the economy. The mood grew tense as a male engineering student, who called himself Jerome, confronted them, calling them "stupid" and "only disrupting classes because they knew they would fail" the end of year exams. The group of 20, swelled to almost three hundred as they left the tar and marched onto the colonnades. Across campus, they disrupted lectures and set off fire alarms. Here they confronted students of the school of architecture, who were themselves meeting to address issues of fees, racial stigmatization and colonialism, outside their building. They tried to intimidate them to join their cause. This is a campus backlash against Minister of Higher Education and Learning Blade Nzimande's announcement that 'those who can pay, must'. The government allowed a cap up to 8% for 2017. The government also wants to restructure fee payments based on your wealth: the poor below R120,000 wouldn't pay; the government would subsidize the difference in fee increases for the middle class, or missing middle, between R120,000 and R600,000; while the affluent will pay. Higher education is seen
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Location: University of Cape Town, Cape Town, South Africa, Africa
Photo credit: © Jay Correia Caboz / Alamy / Afripics
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