Positioning the #FeesMustFall Movement within the Transformative Agenda: Reflections on Student Protests in South Africa

Luvuyo Ntombana; Asemahle  Gwala; Francis  Sibanda

doi:10.25159/1947-9417/10870

Authors

Luvuyo Ntombana Nelson Mandela University https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6376-6068
Asemahle Gwala Nelson Mandela University
Francis Sibanda Nelson Mandela University https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9746-0772

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.25159/1947-9417/10870

Keywords:

student activism, student protests, FeesMustFall, higher education

Abstract

This article reflects on the successes and failures of student protests in transforming higher education in South Africa through a Marxist lens. The slow pace of change by the government in addressing structural and systemic inequalities has led to disgruntlement within the student body. In their quest to hasten the process, students engaged in protests across the country, inspired by the #RhodesMustFall movement. This article outlines the problematic areas that have led to the unrest and reflects on the #FeesMustFall movement: the lessons learnt and its impact on contemporary higher education. The reflection further unpacks what it means to be a student in South Africa and how the learning process shapes and is shaped by the student movements within universities. The study reviewed existing literature on the #FeesMustFall movement to better understand the influence of student protests on government policy and to evaluate whether any protest-based changes have occurred in higher education in South Africa.

Metrics

Metrics Loading ...

Author Biographies

Luvuyo Ntombana, Nelson Mandela University

Associate Professor and Acting Director, Raymond Mhlaba Centre for Governance and Leadership, Nelson Mandela University, South Africa

Asemahle Gwala, Nelson Mandela University

Sociology Master's student and research assistant, Raymond Mhlaba Centre for Governance and Leadership, Nelson Mandela University, South Africa

Francis Sibanda, Nelson Mandela University

Postdoctoral Research Fellow, Raymond Mhlaba Centre for Governance and Leadership, Nelson Mandela University, South Africa

References

Badat, S. 2007. Higher Education Transformation in South Africa Post 1994: Towards a Critical Assessment. Pretoria: Centre for Education Policy Development.

Badat, S. 2010. “The Challenges of Transformation in Higher Education and Training Institutions in South Africa”. Paper Commissioned by the Development Bank of South Africa. Accessed January 24, 2023. https://www.ru.ac.za/media/rhodesuniversity/content/vc/documents/The_Challenges_of_Transformation_in_Higher_Eduaction_and_Training_Institutions_in_South_Africa.pdf.

Banerjee, A. V., and E. Duflo. 2008. “What Is Middle Class about the Middle Classes around the World?” Journal of Economic Perspectives 22 (2): 3–28. https://doi.org/10.1257/jep.22.2.3. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1257/jep.22.2.3

Bank, L., and G. Kruss. 2019. “Beyond the Campus Gate: Higher Education and Place-Based Development in South Africa”. In State of the Nation: Poverty and Inequality; Diagnosis, Prognosis and Response, edited by C. Soudien, V. Reddy and I. Woolard, 294–312. Cape Town: HSRC Press.

Bank, L., and F. Sibanda 2018. “Universities as City-Builders: The City-Campus Development Opportunity in East London–Buffalo City, South Africa”. In “Putting Universities in Their Place”, edited by L. J. Bank, special issue, Development Southern Africa 35 (5): 701–715. https://doi.org/10.1080/0376835X.2018.1502076. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/0376835X.2018.1502076

Barchiesi, F. 1997. “South Africa: Between Repression and ‘Home-Grown Structural Adjustment’”. Newsletter No. 13. Johannesburg: CAFA.

Bloom, D. E., D. Canning, and K. Chan. 2006. Higher Education and Economic Development in Africa. Washington, DC: The World Bank. Accessed January 24, 2023. http://web.worldbank.org/archive/website01447/WEB/IMAGES/HIGHER-2.PDF.

Bond, P. 2016. “To Win Free Education, Fossilised Neoliberalism Must Fall”. In Fees Must Fall: Student Revolt, Decolonisation and Governance in South Africa, edited by S. Booysen, 192–213. Johannesburg: Wits University Press. https://doi.org/10.18772/22016109858.14. DOI: https://doi.org/10.18772/22016109858.14

Brotman, D., and N. Pollack. 2017. “Case Study: Brazil’s Free Education”. Mail & Guardian, March 31, 2017. Accessed January 24, 2023. https://mg.co.za/article/2017-03-31-00-case-study-brazils-free-education/.

Bunting, I. 2004. “The Higher Education Landscape under Apartheid”. In Transformation in Higher Education: Global Pressures and Local Realities in South Africa, Higher Education Dynamics, Vol. 10, edited by N. Cloete, P. Maassen, R. Fehnel, T. Moja, T. Gibbon and H. Perold, 35–52. Dordrecht: Springer.

https://doi.org/10.1007/1-4020-4006-7_3. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/1-4020-4006-7_3

Bussolo, M., R. E. De Hoyos, D. Medvedev, and D. van der Mensbrugghe. 2007. “Global Growth and Distribution: Are China and India Reshaping the World?” World Bank Policy Research Working Paper No. 4392. Washington, DC: World Bank. Accessed January 25, 2023. https://documents1.worldbank.org/curated/ru/379281468043457099/pdf/wps4392.pdf. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1596/1813-9450-4392

CHE (Council on Higher Education). 2016. South African Higher Education Reviewed: Two Decades of Democracy. Pretoria: CHE.

Cloete, N. 2015. “The Flawed Ideology of ‘Free Higher Education’”. University World News, 389. Accessed February 6, 2023. https://www.sun.ac.za/english/Documents/CommOct2015/University%20World%20News%20Cloete%20article.pdf.

Desai, R., dir. 2014. Miners Shot Down. Produced by R. Desai, A. Khanna and B. Tilley. Uhuru Productions.

DHET (Department of Higher Education and Training). 2013. Statistics on Post-School Education and Training in South Africa: 2011. Pretoria: DHET. Accessed February 6, 2023. https://www.dhet.gov.za/DHET%20Statistics%20Publication/Statistics%20on%20post-school%20education%20and%20training%20in%20South%20Africa%20%202011.pdf.

DHET (Department of Higher Education and Training). 2015. Statistics on Post-School Education and Training in South Africa: 2013. Pretoria: DHET. Accessed January 23, 2023. https://www.dhet.gov.za/DHET%20Statistics%20Publication/Statistics%20on%20Post-School%20Education%20and%20Training%20in%20South%20Africa%202015.pdf.

Dlamini, R. 2016. “The Global Ranking Tournament: A Dialectic Analysis of Higher Education in South Africa”. South African Journal of Higher Education 30 (2): 53–72. https://doi.org/10.20853/30-2-567. DOI: https://doi.org/10.20853/30-2-567

Godsell, G., and R. Chikane. 2016. “The Roots of the Revolution”. In Fees Must Fall: Student Revolt, Decolonisation and Governance in South Africa, edited by S. Booysen, 54–73. Johannesburg: Wits University Press. https://doi.org/10.18772/22016109858.7. DOI: https://doi.org/10.18772/22016109858.7

Habib, A. 2019. Rebels and Rage: Reflecting on #FeesMustFall. Cape Town: Jonathan Ball.

Hodes, R. 2016. “Questioning ‘Fees Must Fall’”. African Affairs 116 (462): 140–50. https://doi.org/10.1093/afraf/adw072. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1093/afraf/adw072

Ishengoma, M. J. 2004. “Cost-Sharing in Higher Education in Tanzania: Fact or Fiction?” Journal of Higher Education in Africa 2 (2): 101–3. https://unesdoc.unesco.org/ark:/48223/pf0000148929.

Jansen, J. 2017. As By Fire: The End of the South African University. Pretoria: Tafelberg.

Johnstone, D. B. 2004. “The Economics and Politics of Cost Sharing in Higher Education: Comparative Perspectives”. Economics of Education Review 23 (4): 403–10. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.econedurev.2003.09.004. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.econedurev.2003.09.004

Kapur, D., and M. Crowley. 2008. “Beyond the ABC’s: Higher Education and Developing Countries”. Centre for Global Development Working Paper No. 139. https://doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.1099934. DOI: https://doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.1099934

Keet, A. 2020. “University Transformation at the Crossroads”. University World News, February 27, 2020. Accessed January 24, 2023. https://www.universityworldnews.com/post.php?story=20200225094803518.

Keet, A., W. Nel, and S. D. Sattarzadeh. 2021. “#MustFall—The Event: Rights, Student Activism and the Transformation of South African Universities”. In University on the Border: Crisis of Authority and Precarity, edited by L. Lange, V. Reddy and S. H. Kumalo, 97–124. Stellenbosch: African Sun Media. https://doi.org/10.52779/9781991201355/03. DOI: https://doi.org/10.52779/9781991201355/03

Kele, K., and P. Mzileni. 2021. “Higher Education Leadership Responses Applied in Two South African Comprehensive Universities during the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Critical Discourse Analysis”. Transformation in Higher Education 6: a114. DOI: https://doi.org/10.4102/the.v6i0.114

Kharas, H. 2010. “The Emerging Middle Class in Developing Countries”. OECD Development Centre Working Papers, No. 285. Paris: OECD Publishing. https://doi.org/10.1787/5kmmp8lncrns-en. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1787/5kmmp8lncrns-en

Letseka, M., M. Breier, and M. Visser. 2010. “Poverty, Race and Student Achievement in Seven Higher Education Institutions”. In Student Retention and Graduate Destination: Higher Education and Labour Market Access and Success, edited by M. Letseka, M. Cosser, M. Breier and M. Visser, 25–40. Cape Town: HSRC Press. http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11910/4385.

Mamdani, M. 2008. “Higher Education, the State and the Marketplace”. Journal of Higher Education in Africa 6 (1): 1–10.

Marcucci, P., D. B. Johnstone, and M. Ngolovoi. 2008. “Higher Educational Cost-Sharing, Dual-Tracking Tuition Fees, and Higher Educational Access: The East African Experience”. Peabody Journal of Education 83 (1): 101–16. https://doi.org/10.1080/01619560701649232. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/01619560701649232

Mavunga, G. 2019. “#FeesMustFall Protests in South Africa: A Critical Realist Analysis of Selected Newspaper Articles”. Journal of Student Affairs in Africa 7 (1): 81–99. https://doi.org/10.24085/jsaa.v7i1.3694. DOI: https://doi.org/10.24085/jsaa.v7i1.3694

Mbeki, M., and N. Mbeki. 2016. A Manifesto for Social Change: How to Save South Africa. Johannesburg: Picador Africa.

McLellan, D. T., and H. Chambre. 2022. “Marxism”. Encyclopedia Britannica, August 17, 2022. Accessed December 5, 2022. https://www.britannica.com/topic/Marxism.

Mlaba, K. 2021. “South Africa’s Student Protests: Everything to Know about a Movement That Goes Back Decades”. Global Citizen, April 8, 2021. Accessed January 24, 2023. https://www.globalcitizen.org/en/content/south-africa-student-protests-explained/.

Moosa, F. 2016. “What Are Students Demanding from #FeesMustFall?” The Daily Vox, October 13, 2016. Accessed January 24, 2023. www.thedailyvox.co.za/students-demanding-feesmustfall.

Mzileni, P 2020. “Informal Education and Collective Conscientisation in the #FeesMustFall Movement at Nelson Mandela University”. Educational Research for Social Change (ERSC) 9 (1): 15–30. https://doi.org/10.17159/2221-4070/2020/v9i0a2. DOI: https://doi.org/10.17159/2221-4070/2020/v9i0a2

Naicker, C. 2015. “Post Marikana SA: Birthing the New Student Politics”. Daily Maverick, April 7, 2015. Accessed January 24, 2023. https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/opinionista/2015-04-07-post-marikana-sa-birthing-the-new-student-politics/.

Nash, A. 2006. “Restructuring South African Universities”. In Asinamali: University Struggles in Post-Apartheid South Africa, edited by R. Pithouse, 1–10. Eritrea: Africa World Press.

Nathane-Taulela, M., and L. Smith. 2017. “Voices from the Frontline: #Feesmustfall #Decolonised Education”. Critical and Radical Social Work 5 (1): 115–18. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1332/204986017X14835300150779

News24. 2017. “Zuma Announces Free Higher Education for Poor and Working Class Students”. News24, December 16, 2017. https://www.news24.com/news24/zuma-announces-free-higher-education-for-poor-and-working-class-students-20171216.

Ngcaweni, W., and B. Ngcaweni, eds. 2018. The Struggle for #FeesMustFall: We Are No Longer at Ease. Johannesburg: Jacana.

Nielson, K. 1986. “Marx, Engels and Lenin on Justice: The Critique of the Gotha Programme”. Studies in Soviet Thought 32 (1): 23–63. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01045712

NSFAS (National Student Financial Aid Scheme). 2017. 2016/2017 Annual Report. Cape Town: NSFAS. Accessed January 24, 2023. https://www.nsfas.org.za/content/reports/NSFAS%20Annual%20Report.pdf.

O’Regan, V. 2022. “Varsity Year Opens with Online and Face-to-Face Class Disruptions over Registration, Financial Exclusions and Vaccine Mandates”. Daily Maverick, February 21, 2022. Accessed January 24, 2023. https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/article/2022-02-21-new-varsity-year-opens-with-online-and-face-to-face-disruptions-over-registration-financial-exclusions-and-vaccine-mandates/.

Phaladi, B., and A. Salavu. 2016. “SA Universities Face Massive Bill”. The Citizen, March 17, 2016, p. 4.

Pityana, B. N. 2010. “Higher Education, Transformation and Africanisation—A Paradigm Shift?” In Study South Africa: The Guide to South African Higher Education, 9th ed., 39–41. International Education Association of South Africa. Accessed April 7, 2021. http://studysa.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/Study-SA-9th-edition.pdf.

Ravallion, M. 2010. “The Developing World’s Bulging (But Vulnerable) Middle Class”. World Development 38 (4): 445–54. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.worlddev.2009.11.007. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.worlddev.2009.11.007

RSA (Republic of South Africa). 1999. National Student Financial Aid Scheme Act, 1999. Government Gazette, Vol. 413, No. 20652. Cape Town: Government Printers. Accessed January 24, 2023. https://www.nsfas.org.za/content/downloads/NSFAS%20Act.%20No%2056%20of%201999.pdf.

Saunders, D. B. 2010. “Neoliberal Ideology and Public Higher Education in the United States”. Journal for Critical Education Policy Studies 8 (1): 41–77. http://www.jceps.com/archives/626.

Seedat, M. 1998. “A Characterisation of South African Psychology (1948–1988): The Impact of Exclusionary Ideology”. South African Journal of Psychology 28 (2): 74–84. https://doi.org/10.1177/008124639802800204. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177/008124639802800204

Southall, R. 2016. The New Black Middle Class in South Africa. Johannesburg: Jacana.

Swartz, D. 2015. Vice-chancellor’s Report to Council: Fourth Quarter. Port Elizabeth: Nelson Mandela University.

Teferra, D., and P. G. Altbach. 2004. “African Higher Education: Challenges for the 21st Century”. Higher Education 47 (1): 21–50. https://doi.org/10.1023/B:HIGH.0000009822.49980.30. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1023/B:HIGH.0000009822.49980.30

Valela, N. 2015. “The Rhodes to Perdition: Why Rhodes Was Never Ready for the BSM”. Daily Maverick, March 26, 2015. Accessed January 23, 2023. https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/opinionista/2015-03-26-the-rhodes-to-perdition-why-rhodes-was-never-ready-for-the-bsm//

Wangenge-Ouma, G. 2021. “South Africa’s Higher Education Funding System Can Be More Realistic without Betraying Ideals”. The Conversation, April 6, 2021. Accessed February 6, 2023. https://theconversation.com/south-africas-higher-education-funding-system-can-be-more-realistic-without-betraying-ideals-157478.

Wolff, E. N., and M. Gittleman. 1993. “The Role of Education in Productivity Convergence: Does Higher Education Matter?” In Explaining Economic Growth, edited by A. Szirmai, B. van Ark and D. Pilat, 147–66. Amsterdam: North-Holland.