Fees Must Fall:WITS students taking their grievances to Braamfontein streets.

Fee Must Fall is a collated movement that gradually started in mid October 2015 and later gained momentum through the amalgamation of South African Universities Students for a common goal of affordable education if not free.

The movement is currently taking South Africa by storm; causing incessant protests across universities in the land; giving painstaking disturbances in the affairs of universities, education department,

the government and not forgetting parents of the so called students in the past few weeks.

The past few weeks at WITS University can be compared to a cat-and-dog affairs among students, university government body, and the police. In that atmosphere, handful arrests of students were made and school and public valuables have been vandalized as a results of violent clashes in and off campus.

It could be recalled that these students on 3rd October, 2016; took a peaceful solidarity walk to Luthuli House in Johannesburg to express their state of mind at the headquarters of the African National Congress (A.N.C.) but it seems there gestures caught the attentions of no one at the offices.

Seven days later, hell was let loose in Braamfontein; as students

decided to take drastic steps towards getting their demand(s) from the government. What was planned to be a peaceful walk or protest turned raw as students exchanged with police in a hot brawl in what lasted for hours on the streets.

Businesses came to stand-still as rocks and all kinds of harmful objects ruled the air and police chasing students like a cat runs after a rat. At the end of it all, community members, business owners and road users count their losses in the abrupt development.

A bus driver bite his fingers as he watched his means of making ends meet set alight to the shock of people and delight of angry students.

As if it is was not enough, a popular gear wear shop in Braamfontein also had a rough fair-share of the aftermath of the violence clash as looters made away with valuables.

It could be recalled last year that this similar incident crippled many businesses in Braamfontein; forcing some out of trade after looting sprees and causing few others to move out.

Only God knows what fate awaits this community members in the forth coming weeks as students ready to further take their grievances to the streets.


By Olagunju, Success Taiwo.