Abstract
In 2015 and 2016, South Africa experienced one of the unique student-led protests since the dawn of democracy that touched the world, the #FeesMustFall movement. Out of the many demands that the students made in the movement, one is outstanding, fee-free higher education. A large number of publications have been written on the movement from an economical and educational point of view. Most of these publications argue that a fee-free higher education for all students is not an affordable or sustainable option for South Africa at the moment. What is new in this article is a practical theological reflection on the movement in general and the demand for a fee-free higher education by students in particular. The article looks at the possibilities of fee-free higher education for the poor students in South Africa by exploring the roles of the church in the #FeesMustFall movement.
Highlights
The immediate trigger appeared to be the announcement by the University of Witwatersrand of a 10.5% fee increase for 2016, which evoked the response #FeesMustFall (Badat 2016:12)
The protest in 2016 began when the South African Minister of Higher Education announced that there would be fee increases capped at 8% for 2017; each institution was given the freedom to decide by how much their tuition would increase (EWN 2017)
Student protests gained momentum again when the South African Minister of the department of higher education Blade Nzimande announced in 2016 that there will be a fee increase capped at 8% for the academic year 2017 (EWN 2017)
Summary
#FeesMustFall is a student-led protest movement that began in mid-October 2015 in response to an increase in fees at South African universities (ENCA 2015). The protest in 2016 began when the South African Minister of Higher Education announced that there would be fee increases capped at 8% for 2017; each institution was given the freedom to decide by how much their tuition would increase (EWN 2017). Students were motivated by the 2007 African National Congress (ANC) Policy Conference, supporting the previous policy decision, resolved that ‘free higher education for the poor up to undergraduate level’ must be progressively implemented (National ANC Policy Conference 2007). This was reiterated at the Mangaung Policy Conference (National ANC Policy Conference 2012). The roles that the church can play in order for fee-free higher education for the poor students to become a reality
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