Home » Braamfontein Blazes as Blade Says Fees Cannot be Free for All

Braamfontein Blazes as Blade Says Fees Cannot be Free for All

The South African Police Services (SAPS) will be maintaining a strong presence in the Braamfontein area, Johannesburg, this evening after a SAPS vehicle and a Rea Vaya bus were torched tonight following protests… adding further costs to SAPS which revealed today that it has already spent over R3-million for overtime work, since the university fee protests […]

By SAPeople
26-10-16 00:08
in Education

The South African Police Services (SAPS) will be maintaining a strong presence in the Braamfontein area, Johannesburg, this evening after a SAPS vehicle and a Rea Vaya bus were torched tonight following protests… adding further costs to SAPS which revealed today that it has already spent over R3-million for overtime work, since the university fee protests began.

The #FeesMustFall campaign was sparked last month after Education Minister Blade Nzimande announced, on 19 September, that universities could raise their fees by up to 8%.

Police are investigating who set the vehicles alight tonight.

Commenters on social media have criticised the protesters for burning public goods which are needed by the poor, while others have pointed out that the violent protesters are in the minority and that most students condemn the violence, but support the #FeesMustFall movement.

Nzimande reiterated today in Parliament that free higher education for all is not a possibility, and that the ANC government has worked hard to make sure that the poor – and those unable to afford it – are able to access higher education. He said that three-quarters of the University of Johannesburg’s students, and 90% of Fort Hare’s students, paid little or no fees.

The repercussions of students not finishing this year will be huge, he said… leaving at least 20,000 classrooms, for example, without teachers next year if the 2016 trainee teachers do not graduate.

In unconfirmed reports in the last few minutes, several witnesses in Parktown have tweeted that another bus has just been torched. One Wits (University of Witwatersrand) student wrote: “This time students were on it. It seems like people got off. I hope no one was badly hurt.” (Update: it has been confirmed that a Wits bus was burnt in Parktown.)

Update, 23:30 SA time, 25 October 2016: No more Wits buses are running tonight, and some students are reportedly stuck on campus. According to Jacaranda News, the Dean of Students is giving some students lifts home. They also report that there are police from Springs, Kagiso and Krugersdorp in Braamfontein right now.

https://twitter.com/Nkosi_chumchum/status/790998986987540480

Watch Parkview Police Van Set Alight, Johannesburg

https://youtu.be/KzJbKkotFlA

https://twitter.com/MandyWiener/status/791021365918830592

Just before midnight: