“Fees will Fall, Not Us”: A glance at Stellenbosch University

In Kadzamira Modjadji’s MatieMedia newspaper article about Fees Must Fall he quoted students who described the movement as revolutionary since protests against the rise in tertiary education fees and for the decolonization of the curriculum peaked.[1] During 2015 this student-led protest started at Rhodes University in Grahamstown that soon became a nation-wide movement which spread to various campuses.[2] In 2016 this student-led protest spread to Stellenbosch University (SU), located in the Western Cape, which changed the campus into a hub of political activism. On 12 September 2016 Fees Must Fall protestors occupied the (SU) library, while demanding to see the vice chancellor, Prof. Wim de Villiers.[3] They wanted him to address their demands to prohibit fee increases and discuss the possibility of free education.[4] By October these student protests increased in intensity as various faculties were forced to close down as protestors disrupted classes and tests by dancing on tables or tearing test papers apart during examinations.[5] On 11 October 2016 the protests peaked when a petrol bomb was thrown at the Engineering building.[6] Even though the building was not damaged, the fight for free education was prominent at Stellenbosch University. Regardless of the students’ protests for free education, their struggle mostly fell on deaf ears. De Villiers indicated that regardless of the protests against the rise in tertiary fees the following year, the university would still have to implement an 8% raise to function.[7] However, even if their requests went unanswered, the extent of their protests did cause politicians to respond to the issue of “fees must fall” at SU. Trevor Manuel, a previous Minister of Finance, responded to Stellenbosch University’s student-led protest by stating that it was not financially feasible.[8] He did indicate that rich families should pay for tertiary education while free education should be offered to impoverished students.[9] Manuel supported and understood the cause of the Fees Must Fall Movement, but also stated that students had to analyse what went wrong during the previous year’s protests and stop students from misbehaving.[10]Students who were political activists for Fees Must Fall at Stellenbosch responded to the media coverage they received that depicted them as disruptive and destructive. Modjadji Kadzamira reported in the MatieMedia that these students stated that the media portrayed a skewed narrative of what happened and did not properly cover their protests and cause.[11] In a broader context, these students saw themselves as a part of a nation-wide movement for quality, decolonized and free education to create a democratic South Africa that was freed of institutional racism at universities.[12] End notes: [1]Kadzamira Modjadji, “Three of the most prominent Stellenbosch movements”, MatieMedia, (Uploaded: 16 July 2018), (Accessed: 18 February 2020), Available at: https://www.matiemedia.org/three-of-the-most-prominent-stellenbosch-movements/ ↵ [2]Carla Visagie, “Social Activism in Stellies”, MatieMedia, (Uploaded: February 2019), (Accessed: 18 February 2020), Available at: https://diematie.com/2019/02/social-activism-at-stellies/ ↵ [3]Carla Visagie, “Social Activism in Stellies”, MatieMedia, (Uploaded: February 2019), (Accessed: 18 February 2020), Available at: https://diematie.com/2019/02/social-activism-at-stellies/ ↵ [4]Carla Visagie, “Social Activism in Stellies”, MatieMedia, (Uploaded: February 2019), (Accessed: 18 February 2020), Available at: https://diematie.com/2019/02/social-activism-at-stellies/ ↵ [5]Carla Visagie, “Social Activism in Stellies”, MatieMedia, (Uploaded: February 2019), (Accessed: 18 February 2020), Available at: https://diematie.com/2019/02/social-activism-at-stellies/ ↵ [6]Carla Visagie, “Social Activism in Stellies”, MatieMedia, (Uploaded: February 2019), (Accessed: 18 February 2020), Available at: https://diematie.com/2019/02/social-activism-at-stellies/ ↵ [7]Carla Visagie, “Social Activism in Stellies”, MatieMedia, (Uploaded: February 2019), (Accessed: 18 February 2020), Available at: https://diematie.com/2019/02/social-activism-at-stellies/ ↵ [8]Elodi Troskie, “Trevor Manuel on SU’s image and Fees Must Fall”, (Uploaded: February 2019), (Accessed: 18 February 2020) Available at: https://diematie.com/2017/07/trevor-manuel-on-sus-image-and-fees-must-fall/ ↵ [9]Elodi Troskie, “Trevor Manuel on SU’s image and Fees Must Fall”, (Uploaded: February 2019), (Accessed: 18 February 2020) Available at: https://diematie.com/2017/07/trevor-manuel-on-sus-image-and-fees-must-fall/ ↵ [10]Elodi Troskie, “Trevor Manuel on SU’s image and Fees Must Fall”, (Uploaded: February 2019), (Accessed: 18 February 2020) Available at: https://diematie.com/2017/07/trevor-manuel-on-sus-image-and-fees-must-fall/ ↵ [11]Kadzamira Modjadji, “Three of the most prominent Stellenbosch movements”, MatieMedia, (Uploaded: 16 July 2018), (Accessed: 18 February 2020), Available at: https://www.matiemedia.org/three-of-the-most-prominent-stellenbosch-movements/ ↵ [12]Rehad Desai, “#Fees Must Fall: How student movements shaped a new South Africa”, Aljazeera, (Uploaded 10 May 2019), (Accessed: 18 February 2020), Available at: https://www.aljazeera.com/blogs/africa/2019/05/feesmustfall-student-movements-shaped-south-africa190507073038858.html ↵