South African president to meet student protesters

The students were protesting about the increasing cost of university education which is seen as prohibitive for many black South Africans.

The students are angry with a proposed increase in tuition fees.

Students said they would march on Friday to government buildings in the capital, Pretoria, to coincide with President Jacob Zuma’s plan to meet protest leaders to discuss their grievances.

“We should be having free education”, said 18-year-old Bongani Shabangu, who is studying education at a Pretoria university.

“Government understands the difficulty faced by students from poor households and urges all affected to allow the process to unfold to find long term solutions in order to ensure access to education by our students”.

In scenes that, for a few, recalled the 1976 massacre of students protesting the use of the Afrikaans language in schools, police this week threw stun grenades at students who stormed the parliament precinct as Finance Minister Nhlanhla Nene read a budget speech.

I have received a briefing from student leaders on matters of concern to them which include fees and other challenges including transformation issues as well as matters relating to the living conditions of students at universities.

For days, hundreds of demonstrators blocked entrances to the university, known as Wits, forcing administration to cancel lectures and eventually suspending the fee increase.

The students had rejected an earlier government offer to cap increases at 6%, down from the 10% to 12% proposed by the management of universities. Students are using the hashtag #FeesMustFall to rally and share experiences on social media.

They pushed past guards and pried open gates.

“We agreed that there will be a zero increase of university fees in 2016”, Zuma said in a short televised press briefing. Once inside parliamentary grounds, they sat in front of the building to block Parliament leaders from getting out.

The campaign for affordable education has prompted many white students to stand with their black colleagues, as have numerous academics and African National Congress stalwarts, including Winnie Madikizela-Mandela and Nelson Mandela’s close confidant and friend Ahmed Kathrada.

The South African Police Service said Thursday that six students had been arrested during what it called the “illegal protest” and were being detained at a Cape Town police station.