When Itumeleng Chalele, a South African student, left his hometown of Qwaqwa, one of those former “
Bantustans
” reserved for blacks during apartheid, he was full of hope.
With just enough in his pocket to pay his tuition fees, he left in 2016 to study at the University of Johannesburg.
But five years later and despite a scholarship, the 23-year-old has accumulated the equivalent of 7,600 euros in debt for his studies.
In January, he was excluded from his course.
“
The experience was difficult.
Each year has been difficult,
”he says.
Raised by his grandmother in a home of seven people, he aspired to escape the poverty that marked his life.
Last week he joined hundreds of students who demonstrated across South Africa to demand free education.
They blocked roads, set fire to garbage cans, forced businesses to lower the curtains and clashed with the police.
The sporadic protests began in early January after Higher Education Minister Blade Nzimande announced that some students would be excluded from a government-funded scholarship program, following budget cuts due to the economic consequences of the Covid-19 pandemic.
During the protests, a 35-year-old city planner was shot and killed in the crossfire between police and students.
"
A real fight
" for these students
Amogelo Mabote, 21, a student at the University of the Witwatersrand (Wits), strapped for money, also joined the movement.
“
It was tough.
I did not have the 9,000 rand (500 euros) they were asking for.
My parents were stressed,
”she says, distraught, even though she finally managed to re-register.
Finding funds has been “
a real struggle
” for her and she still owes the university the equivalent of 2,000 euros.
In recent years, unrest has erupted at South African universities over rising tuition fees which some argue are excluding poorer, often black, students from higher education.
The demonstrators in the streets today come mainly from two groups: those who were "
born free
" after the end of apartheid, and those who are neither poor enough to receive scholarships, nor rich enough to finance their own. studies.
Comparing the student movement to one of these television series with multiple episodes, the minister explained to Parliament that "
at each start of the school year, there is instability
".
He pledged to end the crisis, as frustration grows over the inequalities that persist, nearly 30 years after the end of the white minority rule.
The right to education is crucial to truly end apartheid but South Africa has "
leaders who only kick in touch,
" criticizes David Monyae, a political scientist at the University of Johannesburg.
In 2015, national student protests for free education erupted under the hashtag #FeesMustFall ( "
Drop Fees
" entry).
Two years later, then-president Jacob Zuma promised free access to poor and working-class students.
This year, the government has already approved the allocation of an additional 2.4 billion euros for scholarships.
These grants cover registration, tuition, accommodation and food costs for students whose parents earn less than 19,500 euros per year.
Some universities have allowed students to return to school "
to calm things down
," according to Itumeleng Chalele, but student unions have yet to surrender.