Education is a cause worth the violence – SAUS
The South African Union of Students (SAUS) believes the fight for free, decolonised education is a justifiable cause.
This comes after close to two weeks of student protests.
Wits University students triggered a nationwide response to the call for institutions to scrap historical debt and other red tape holding the 2021 cohort back from registering.
The group took to the streets in protest and were met by water cannons and rubber bullets from police.
Mthokozisi Ntumba died last week Wednesday after a bullet from a police barrel hit him in the chest.
Several others were injured.
A week to that fateful day, the union’s Palomino Jama told a higher education panel that government had failed students.
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“I think the issue is that there’s just an unwillingness from the government’s side to fund free education and I think what’s more disappointing is the fact that it was something that was announced, something government showed intention to do and what we’ve seen in 2020 budget speeches, 2021 budget speeches is that there’s a defunding of higher education.
“This means we are reversing the gains that I thought we were making.”
