Two separate groups of Rhodes University Students took to Grahamstown's streets this afternoon, Friday 23 September in an attempt to intensify their calls for free tertiary education.
Two separate groups of Rhodes University Students took to Grahamstown's streets this afternoon, Friday 23 September in an attempt to intensify their calls for free tertiary education.
One group which was led by the Student Representative Council (SRC) marched with Rhodes Vice Chancellor Dr Sizwe Mabizela and other academics to Makana Municipality to deliver a memorandum to Executive Mayor Nomhle Gaga.
However the memorandum was accepted by Makana Municipality's acting municipal Manager Mandisi Planga on Gaga's behalf and he informed the group that she is currently out of the town.
"Unfortunately the mayor is out of town, but I will pass this petition to the relevant authorities. We appreciate and understand what you doing. We hope that there will be a speedy resolution to this," Planga said.
In the memorandum handed over to Planga, the students said they implore and demand that the state, being the government of the Republic of South Africa, realise and more importantly actualise their constitutional obligation with respect to higher education.
"Education rights are contained in Section 29 of the Constitution of the Republic of South Africa 1996. Section 29 (1) enshrines and protects the right to basic and further education for everyone."
The memorandum, read out by one of the students before handing it over, goes on to state that the section in the Constitution provides that the state has to make further education progressively available and accessible.
"Section 56 (d) and 69 (d) of the Constitution provides for the National Assembly and the National Council of Provinces to receive petitions, representations or submissions from any interested persons or institutions," it reads.
The students called for the actualisation of free quality higher education for the poor as informed by the “Report of the Ministerial Committee for the Review of the Funding of Universities 2013”, through a time-bound action plan to be accepted by consensus.
In their memorandum, they say the funding of institutions of higher learning at the appropriate level is not in line with the general consumer price index, but rather the actual indicators that inform the increased need for funding in universities.
The indicators are the consumer price index of institutions of higher learning, and the increase in student enrolment, among many others.
"We implore the Honourable Minister of Higher Education and Training, Dr Blade Nzimande to hear the cries of the Students of Rhodes University and those of the nation as a whole."
A second group who did not want to be part of the group marching to the City Hall mobilised on campus and marched down Prince Alfred Street. The group stopped at the corner of Prince Alfred Street and Somerset Street and started singing.
Shortly after they came to a halt, police cars which had led the first group to the city hall arrived at the intersection and gave the group of protesters six minutes to disperse.
After a lengthy conversation between the students and the police, a compromise was reached. It was agreed that the students would stand on the side of the road and not block cars from entering and leaving campus. The students eventually complied.
The protesting group said the reason they went to block the entrance was that the SRC did not consult with the students on the decision of marching to the municipality.
"We are not happy with the way the SRC is doing things. They did not consult with the students about the march to the municipality and that is the reason we did not join them.
"By doing this we wanted to capture the attention of the media and university management and we have achieved our objective," said one of the protesting students.
In a statement sent out on the university internal mailing system today, 23 September, chairperson of the HoD Forum Susanne Vetter said an online petition had been set up to call on the government, particularly the Treasury and the Department of Higher Education and Training, to come up with a concrete action plan to increase spending on higher education to 1.0% of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) in the shortest possible time frame.
"At current GDP, this means an approximate spend of R38 billion annually on higher education. We believe that this call represents an important and achievable target, which should unite us as a university community," she said.
Vetter also invited staff and students to follow this link https://goo.gl/forms/XCcBuNPdIM1Lmc7l1 to view and sign the petition.
"The petition itself is anonymous and names will not be captured and made public. If you wish to have your name included on the letter, please email it to RUnitedFront@ru.ac.za. The more signatures and names we can submit, the more powerful our message will be."
Vetter said the petition is open for signing from Friday 23 September to midnight of Friday 30 September.
"Once completed, the letter will be presented to the Minister of Finance and to the Minister of Higher Education with the signed names and an indication of the total number of Rhodes University students and staff who signed it. In hopes that we can unite in our call for accessible quality, transformative Higher Education!"
anele@grocotts.co.za
