by Mbuyisi Mgibisa
Friday last week marked the start of the academic year for many higher education institutions in South Africa.
As usual, the start was marred by disruptive student protests, notably at the Durban University of Technology (DUT), Mangosuthu University of Technology – both in KwaZulu-Natal – and Medunsa in Limpopo.
This unrest is to be expected in most historically black universities, the first to feel the threat of instability at the start of each academic year. One would not be surprised to see other black campuses joining, unleashing a fury of protests in which windows will be smashed and buildings defaced.
Stones will be pelted at police and security personnel, university property will be shattered and sometimes torched, and tyres burned. This is a familiar ugly scene for some of us who studied at these formerly disadvantaged institutions.
Historically, student protests used to be politically significant events that were taken very seriously in South Africa as they struck a blow against the apartheid regime. The language of the oppressive regime and state apparatuses were smashed to pieces, so to speak. Campus politics then gave the country its freedom fighters.
In the '70s and '80s, student politics churned out men and women of vision with impeccable credentials, including the likes of Hector Pieterson and Bathandwa Ndondo. It is my view that student politics in our country has fallen from its lofty perch since the demise of those heroes.
In my observation, the student grievances are often legitimate as they usually centre on exorbitant tuition fees that are raised faster than household income growth and consumer inflation. As a result, making tertiary education more affordable is a seemingly unattainable goal.
However, that does not mean that every student protest deserves to command public support because the violence that underpins such activities is unacceptable.
Poor black students always scramble to find funds to pay tuition fees and other tertiary education expenses. It is within the rights of the student body politic to fight against any significant bump in tuition, even before budgets for the following academic year are approved.
But I have always held firmly to the thought that students' case against increase in tuition fees lacks economic logic. Today's student leaders grab every opportunity to act in the forlorn hope that with a group of students carrying "NO FEE INCREASE" placards they can smash not only a window but the entire capitalist system, which is a pipe dream.
With inflation firmly anchored safely within the central bank's 3% to 6% target range, shouldn't student leaders be putting more pressure on university administrators to introduce inflation-linked tuition hikes? How on earth do they expect fees not to increase each academic year? Universities will continue to hike tuition costs. Instead of dealing with this matter logically, today's student protests have proved nothing and persuaded nobody.
We need a highly efficient student political system that churns out bright young minds and innovative ideas instead of political thugs and sycophants. Universities should be known for discipline, dialogue, intellectual debates and innovation rather than violence and vandalism. They should play host to the crème de la crème of the country and produce future leaders.
In some instances, the current crop of student leadership is filled with individuals who continue with student politics till late in life, hoping to find a berth in the parent political party. These student leaders seemingly marvel at the luxury of avoiding paying university fees.
Many of these fake militants have a penchant for climbing the ladder of power, with all concomitant privileges, and take students – through strike actions – away from pursuing their academic goals. It is no wonder that last week's protest at DUT attracted a mere 400 students. The majority of high-minded plus-20 year olds are disengaging from disruptive campus protests.
Who wants to be led by power mongers who seem to have lost their grip on reality? This while many tertiary students, unable to manage rising debt, are increasingly joining millions of others who file for bankruptcy each year?
Many more students drop out for financial reasons than academic ones and student politics seems unconcerned about shrinking job opportunities for the majority of our graduates.
Student formations need to take a cold, hard look at the politics of tuition fees and how futile these protests have been.
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