Column written by Rutendo Hadebe
South Africans woke up on Friday October 16 to news that students at Johannesburg-based Wits University were demanding that there be no (zero) increase to 2016 university fees…or else. For those not familiar with the politics of South African universities, this was an uncomfortable development as it was coming at a time close to the end of the year and had the potential to disrupt the ‘all important’ examinations and graduation ceremonies. As expected, this movement immediately gained momentum on social media and in no time the #FeesMustFall (FMF) was trending: a hashtag and phrase that was reminiscent of the #RhodesMustFall (RMF) Movement which had captured the country’s attention earlier in the year.
Although it was ignited in Johannesburg, the FeesMustFall clarion call was replicated within less than 24 hours at all the other campuses across the country, when it came to light that all the other universities did intend to raise fees by percentages in the two digit range. Even though, in retrospect, the FMF is viewed as a Eureka moment in the history of a new South Africa, it did not happen in isolation. It was an offshoot of the RMF movement of March 2015. The RMF movement was set off by the single act of one University of Cape Town (UCT) black student in his effort to express his pain in having to simultaneously navigate between the lived realities of poor black populations who suffer the indignity of not having functional conventional toilets and the leafy picturesque ‘all is well’ environment of the University of Cape Town. As a way to disrupt this seeming co-existence the student brought the reality of the black township to the serene UCT environment in the form of a portable toilet box and poured its contents (human waste) on the statue of revered colonial 19th century British born hero, Cecil John Rhodes.
His action was symbolic of the anger of many South African black youths in academic spaces who, even though having problematized heroes such as Cecil Rhodes, are forced to look at their symbolic representations, such as the controversial statue. The action of pouring human waste on this statue was intended to bring to attention the reality of the black populations of Cape Town, 21 years after Mandela became the president of a democratic South Africa. Unpalatable as the idea of carrying a box of human waste is, it remains an everyday lived reality of poor Black Africans living in Cape Town’s Townships, as each household is expected to physically move these boxes to central places for collection regularly.
The response to this action set the university in a frenzy as management looked for suitable disciplinary action while other black students took this as an opportunity to begin to speak out about their frustrations in a space that continued to uphold white history and whiteness.
In the weeks that followed, a group of students, mainly scholars of feminist theory and endearingly referred to as Mbokodo[1], began to question the academic space in the context of South African history. This movement made it clear that even though they wanted statue of Rhodes removed, such an action would only be the beginning of disruption of the precedence of whiteness evidenced in South Africa’s academic spaces, where white males reign supreme, as the center of power, juxtaposed with the black South African students who rarely make it to graduation (due to financial or academic exclusion). The RMF’s issues resonated with the students in other universities and were reproduced in different institutions of higher learning. The movement put the following on the table as their concerns and demands:
After receiving written concessions from authorities stating their dedication to the transformation of university spaces, the movement continued to remind the authorities to make good of their promises. However, the 16th of October FMF clarion call was a resurgence of the same movement. It reified the calls of RMF by calling on universities to make decisions cognizant of marginalized black students’ realities. FMF called the ANC government out on its unrealized promise of free education. This call unsettled the ruling party, which was called to account while its failures were being amplified in the public space. Appearing on the National TV, one of the leaders of FMF was adamant that the youth was the largest voting constituency and that the ANC government could not afford to ignore their demands.
The appearance of women leaders who are articulate and provide a nuanced analysis of South Africa around race, class and gender has the country revising the way it has previously framed the black educated born-frees (i.e., those born after 1994 majority rule). Existing mainstream discourses previously described black educated youth as a struggle-less generation, which was material-oriented and had no appreciation of the previous generation sacrifices. In the last weeks of October, the class of 2015 totally destabilized those notions.
Must-Fall movement-building strategies emphasize a preference of horizontal structuring in place of hierarchical ordering of leadership, thus doing away with personality aggrandizement. Instead the movement allows multi-voices and opinions to be heard simultaneously and actions are taken based on consensus. All this is in line with feminist theory, which calls for disruption of hierarchies. This type of organizing has made it difficult for the authorities to single out and target individuals.
The movement has taken the ideologies out of the books into the streets of South Africa. An example of this is its ability to become a multi –racial multifaceted movement, where participants are overly aware of their identities and power. In a recent standoff with the police, during which members of force threatened to shoot, white UCT students built a wall around the black students as a way to protect them and an exhibition of their understanding of their problematic privilege and power as white-bodied citizens within South Africa.
As the university students have retreated to conclude their semester, government has made a commitment to see through and act decisively on the demands made by the ‘…MustFall’ movements. These developments mark a new dawn in alternative nonviolent ways of calling African governments to account and illuminate the organizing capabilities of women scholars in the academic space. To date, the movement continues to wait on the government to deliver its side of the deal, but what is certain is that they have already secured a huge victory in exercising the power of citizens.
[1] Literally translates to rock that crushes and was often associated with women power in the struggle against Apartheid
Rutendo Hadebe is a Zimbabwean women’s rights activist currently residing in Cape Town, South Africa. Her experience spans across journalism, environmental rights, governance, economic justice, politics and migration. She graduated her research masters in Gender Studies Cum Laude from the University of Cape Town, in which she focused on migrant women narratives in South Africa. Rutendo was also Vice Chairperson for the Women’s Coalition of Zimbabwe (WCOZ) and it was during her tenure that hundreds of women and children were displaced from their rural homes following a violent political campaign in the wake of 2008 elections. Rutendo was part of the coalition team which not only relayed these developments in Zimbabwe to the world, but also mobilized UNHCR and other international agencies for resources to avert what could have been a national disaster. Her other previous work includes the commissioning a gender audit of the political parties in Zimbabwe, a research that was instrumental in informing the succeeding 50-50 campaign for women in decision making. Although Rutendo’s current work is limited to research and writing, she engages with the university students as a teaching assistant and is a mentor for several black students studying on the campus. She has maintained an active interest in the developments and call for transformation in the South African academic spaces, by engaging in discussions and supporting some of the students’ initiatives.
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