[ad_1]
- Deputy Minister of Higher Education Buti Manamela has pledged to help the University of the Witwatersrand finalize its registration process and resume the academic year.
- The second day of protests over financial exclusion from universities turned deadly on Wednesday when police fired at a passerby.
- Higher Education Minister Blade Nzimande is expected to give a briefing on Thursday.
Deputy Higher Education Minister Buti Manamela said the government will support the University of the Witwatersrand to conclude its registration process and resume the academic year after the second day of protests turned deadly on Wednesday.
READ | Wit protest: two student reporters shot and wounded
A 35-year-old man was shot and killed by police when he left a doctor’s office on Wednesday and stepped onto the sidewalk where the protests were taking place.
“This death is tragic and those responsible must be held to account,” Manamela said. “We are working on locating the relatives so that we can formally extend our condolences.”
#protest 1/2 I was saddened to learn of the loss of life during the protest of students from @University today. This death is tragic and those responsible should be brought to the book. We are working on locating the next of kin so that we extend our condolences to them.
– Manaks (@ButiManamela) March 10, 2021
However, former Fees Must Fall student protest leader Naledi Chirwa reacted angrily to Manamela, saying her department should have acted sooner before someone was killed.
Keep your damn sadness and push it where the sun won’t shine. THIS is what YOU are not as umbutho. This is you. Has it cost you a life to be brutally killed to wake you up? This is not a new conversation so shut up shit shit and you don’t give a damn about EVERYTHING.
– Naledi Chirwa (@NalediChirwa) March 10, 2021
Another former student leader, Gauteng ANC MPL Fasiha Hassan, was on the ground helping some of the arrested students obtain bail. He expressed sadness at the death.
Speaking in front of the Randburg Magistrates Court after his assault trial was postponed until July, EFF leader Julius Malema said that while young people were protesting education, they were being killed.
He also criticized the Public Order Surveillance Unit, accusing it of having no idea how to control crowds.
“They believe that black people can only be controlled with pain and blood because that is what apartheid did,” Malema said.
SEE | Wits shot: ‘I was panting’ – Victim treating doctor details final moments
The ANC in Johannesburg said it supported student action “against financial and academic exclusions,” while the ANC Youth League in the region said it would join more protests on Thursday.
Higher Education Minister Blade Nzimande is expected to give a briefing on the shortfall in the National Plan for Student Financial Aid (NSFAS).
He previously blamed former President Jacob Zuma for making an announcement in 2017 that tertiary education would be free when there was not enough money to fund it.
The SACP, of which Nzimande is the general secretary, said in a statement Wednesday that it “strongly condemns the murder of a member of the public” and called on the government “to adequately fund NSFAS and expand post-school education and provision of training “.
He blamed the National Treasury, saying that the provision of funds to ensure that all eligible students had access to tertiary education and training was inadequate and should be expanded.
Do you want to know more about this topic? Sign up to receive one of 33 News24 newsletters to receive the information you want in your inbox. There are special newsletters available to subscribers.
[ad_2]
