EVOLVE THE PROTEST

 FEES Must Fall (FMF) is a noble and necessary movement. It’s clear that it was born out of the need to address a social structure that continues to maintain the disenfranchisement of a certain group of people.

Critics have been scathing in their judgements about the protest since it began in 2015, as if fighting for free education is a petty endeavour. Yet, the protest continues to survive another year and will most probably be an annual occurrence if government and other stakeholders don’t come to the party, to start creating implementable solutions.

Following Minister of Higher Education Blade Ndzimande’s announcement about the eight per cent fee increase cap, Wits erupted in protest throughout the campus. As the week progressed, the epicentres of violence made headlines; mainly the rock throwing between students and the private security hired by the university and the stun grenades fired by police near Wits Theatre entrance.

All these scenes of unnecessary violence led to students being harmed and intensified the notion that students are violent. Students are not outfitted in protective gear and shields, therefore it’s insensitive when that is overlooked. Violence has become the focal point of this protest and that frankly has to change. It’s important that protests evolve, in order to adopt a more sustainable existence. The courses that these movements undertake need to be charted out vividly as a method of ensuring their longevity.

After these spurts of violence during the protest that have not yielded any tangible results in the quest for free education, it’s key that leaders unite and discuss different strategies. It’s understandable, based on South African history that violent protest has resulted in rewards of change.
But that was an adaptation of the environment in which those protesters functioned, 2016 is a different space and time.

We cannot destroy in order to rebuild, that’s regressive. But the situation we have seen this past week during Fees Must Fall across the country is reminiscent of a dark and bloody time in South Africa, of massacres and uprisings, which suggest the speedy necessity at which strategies need to change. This is in no way an invalidation of the movement and the justified frustration, mainly, black students feel but a suggestion that when something becomes redundant in nature, evolution tethers it off.

Therefore, if a mode of protest is not providing the desired results, change it. 
The Silent Protest in Grahamstown that started 10 years ago has also decided to change how it will protest because the methods they were utilising were not yielding results. The definition of protest needs to be expanded and not be seen as this one dimensional dogma of always taking to the streets and marching. Sometimes smart protest is using the system against itself.

There has been a haphazard direction the movement has been going with egos being the main cause. But since the appointment of official leaders and other structures being put in place the right steps are being taken to ensure that the movement has a more deliberate direction. Leaders of protests and movements need to understand that it’s a different time, there needs to be a smarter use of the support and faith of students in the cause.
These protests cannot lead to more chaos and hurt, they need to adapt or die. There can’t be minimal presence throughout the year then after each fee announcement, its protest time once more. There needs to be constant sensitisation with staff and students throughout the year, to prove to all that the movement must be taken seriously because if the goal of free education is achieved, it benefits all.

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