Students march to Reserve Bank
A group of protesting university students, calling themselves the Occupy Movement, handed a memorandum of demands to SA Reserve Bank Governor Lesetja Kganyago in Pretoria this afternoon.
Protest leader Jonas Mokgethi said while reading the memorandum before handing it to Kganyago that the Reserve Bank is a symbol of all that is wrong in South Africa.
He said It is an institution that ensures that the South African economy is run in the interests of the super- rich capitalist elite.
Apart from abolishing all fees, the students also demanded that government cancel all student debt, provide free accommodation, provide an adequate book allowance and serve free high quality food in university canteens.
During a debate on higher education in Parliament this afternoon, Higher Education Minister Blade Nzimande recommended that the elite and wealthy be taxed to fund the shortfall that will be created by the 0% increase in varsity fees next year.
"My own considered view is that government must have the political will to tax the rich, the wealthy, to fund higher education.
"None of us must develop cold feet about the necessity of taxing the rich to fund our children," he said.
(File photo)