In October 2015, university and college campuses across South Africa erupted in protest over a proposed 10-per-cent increase in tuition fees. Dubbed the ‘FeesMustFall’ movement, the protests have become something of an annual occurrence. Each year brings the prospect of fee increases and the campaign picks up again – at the time of writing many institutions remain closed due to protest activity.
Many herald these demonstrations as the dawn of a new generation of youth activists, comparable to those who struggled against apartheid. The difference is that this time the discontent is not with the legal racial order but with the ruling African National Congress (ANC) and its perceived acquiescence to economic and racial inequality. Some go further, describing the flurry of action as a ‘decolonial movement’, after students at the University of Cape Town (UCT) successfully called for the removal of a statue of the ultimate imperialist – and arch-white-supremacist – Cecil Rhodes.
