FMF activist or criminal? Meet the real Bonginkosi Khanyile

He describes himself as a DUT student, Fees Must Fall activist, and a fighter. But Bonginkosi Khanyile - the 26-year-old DUT student who inadvertently became the face of the national fees movement following his September 2016 arrest for public violence - has also been described as a ring leader, a trouble maker, and a criminal - by those who have not been enamoured by his 'revolutionary' antics.

But Khanyile - who took his fight for freedom to the Constitutional Court this week, and won - maintains his innocence. Khanyile was arrested in September last year during student protests at DUT. He currently faces a string of charges - including public violence and the possession of explosives. Among other things - he's accused of using a slingshot to fire "objects" during demonstrations. 

Addressing scores of supporters from the balcony of the Standard Bank building across the campus on Thursday, Khanyile was greeted by chants and cheers from fellow students and activists. 

(Photo: Nushera Soodyal)

Dressed in a T-shirt emblazoned with the face of late Cuban revolutionary and politician, Fidel Castro, the soon-to-be Public Administration graduate told Newswatch he was elated to be free again.

"I feel very great, but beyond feeling great, I'm in a hyper-revolutionary spirit. The manner in which comrades have received me in the university, and it shows - that instead of having fear of FMF, or wanting to disassociate themselves with FMF - instead, they've become re-energised. So I'm very glad because that means we are going back," he said.

He insists he didn't shed any tears following his release. "Revolutionaries do not cry. They just bow down," he said.

Yet despite what he acknowledges was a difficult prison stay, Khanyile remains committed to the FMF cause. "What we want ultimately is free, decolonised education, and we must get it before we die," he maintained.

Khanyile also said he was humbled by the support from fellow students, South Africans, and the international community as well.

"I'm very humbled, I appreciate their support. If it wasn't for them, I would've collapsed. You know prison can give you depression - especially when you are kept in isolation. You spend your minutes, your hours, your days alone. You can end up losing your mind but through the support I was receiving from the outside, through the solidarity from the comrades from the international community, I knew that we were on the good side of history, and history is on our side," he said.

ALSO READ: LISTEN: Bonginkosi Khanyile addresses his persecutors

But despite earning respect and adulation for his long-stay in prison for his ongoing commitment to the Fees Must Fall cause, Khanyile admits prison took a severe emotional toll on him.

"There were times whereby I felt this thing, it wants to get to me. But normally when that time comes, I would take my revolutionary book, and read about how [Robert] Sobukwe was treated in the apartheid era, and how he survived; how Mandela was treated by the apartheid era, how did he survive. And I saw that if Mandela could do it, if Sobukwe could do it, if Steve Biko could do it - why can't I do it? Those moments, those thoughts in my head - they kept one going," he admitted. 

(Photo: Nushera Soodyal)

Khanyile says his ongoing legal battles left him feeling deflated at times. But he remained optimistic of a win.

"These courts can show you flames; anything is possible with them. Remember I was denied bail in the district court, regional court, High Court, Supreme Court. So it was the last opportunity we had. But I was also willing that if anything happens, I was going to meet my fate like a man - not like a coward. Because we believe that as revolutionaries, that you must die standing on your feet; you don't die kneeling on your knees," he said. 

WATCH: Khanyile maintains his innocence

As for his plans for the future and his future role within the FMF movement - Khanyile had this to say.

"The first move now is - they are waiting for me to just talk to them one-on-one, and the next move too is to engage them - what is the way forward? Because that's what I want, you know. The struggle for free education must not die. It must happen now. And the ground is fertile at DUT. We need to coordinate it, and engage in constitutional and peaceful protests, and realize free education," he said.