“Parliament is an institution of the people that is open and welcoming to all South Africans, including the protesting students”, ANC parliamentary spokesman Moloto Mothapo said.
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Protesters are calling on the ruling African National Congress (ANC) to honour its pledge to provide free education when it took control of the country after the historic 1994 election. “We should be having free education”, said 18-year-old Bongani Shabangu, who is studying education at a Pretoria university, in an interview with The Irish Independent. The protesters set fires that police stamped out with water cannons and authorities fired stun grenades into the crowds. The Associated Press called the demonstrations “one of the biggest student movements to have emerged since South Africa rejected white minority rule in 1994”.
The demonstrations began last week at Johannesburg’s prestigious University of the Witwatersrand, and have since spread to at least 10 universities, forcing the closure of many of them.
Earlier this week, hundreds of students stormed through the gates outside parliament in Cape Town as police used stun grenades to protect the national assembly.
Costs vary, but annual tuition for undergraduate students in South Africa runs to several thousands of dollars at a few universities.
Speaking at the country’s seat of power, the Union Buildings, South Africa’s president, Jacob Zuma, announced the decision this afternoon.
Before Friday’s protests, Zuma noted that universities determine fees independently, but that he was looking forward to hearing the students’ concerns.
“The 0 percent increase will provide short-term relief, but the systemic funding shortages and subsidy cuts from government were not addressed in today’s (Friday’s) meeting”, DA leader Mmusi Maimane said.
After weeklong protests that completely shutdown South African universities and triggered violent suppression by police, students have succeeded in their cause: tuition fee increases for the 2016 academic year have been scrapped. “Nobody disagrees with the message that students from poor households are facing financial difficulties and possible exclusion”.
The universities are saying that they need higher fees to keep up standards, thereby urging the government to find the extra money.
Students and professors alike argue that the price hikes are reminiscent of apartheid policies and amount to racial discrimination as they will deny poorer black students access to higher education.
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The government, which subsidises universities, has said it can not afford the free education that students are demanding. University students marching under the “Fees Must Fall” slogan spoke out against planned fee hikes of 10 to 12 percent.
