UKZN HOWARD College FMF plan - via BSJ

UKZN Howard College Fees Must Fall

"Each generation should discover its mission, fulfill it or betray it in relative capacity." - Frantz Fanon

"When we revolt it is not for a particular culture. We revolt simply because, for many reasons, we can no longer breathe." - Frantz Fanon

In 2015, the greater student population of this country made the call for Free Decolonial Education. Since then, we have witnessed how this call has fallen on deaf ears. Our call has been met with the victimization and brutalization of the student population across the country. We have also witnessed how this has been used to criminalise students. Vice Chancellors and management of universities across the country have actively participated in criminalising students, as we have seen with the countless interdicts, arrests and subsequent criminal charges, suspensions and expulsions that have been meted out against students.

UKZN alone has more than 40 students either with pending court cases or languishing in jail. Other students are in hospital due to injuries that they incurred at the hands of SAPS and Mi7, as mandated by UKZN management. There is a student who was raped by a police officer on PMB campus, bringing the list is unresolved rape and sexual assault cases at UKZN up to 461, this year alone. There are many other violations that we have encountered at UKZN, and we have sat idle for fear of further victimisation. It is time we say enough is enough. We can no longer allow our campuses to be turned into police zones, where private security thugs and the SAPS reign supreme. We cannot accept the arrogance of the Vice Chancellor, who sends countless communiques saying that it is business as usual at UKZN while students are  continuously brutalised, even in our own residences.

As students of UKZN Howard College, we are saying it cannot be business as usual while police and Mi7 languish in our institution, waiting to continue brutalising us. We call on all students, as well as broader society, to stand in solidarity with us and demand a safe learning environment, where young minds can be allowed to develop intellectually and without fear of victimization. It cannot be that when students demand a basic right, we are met with brutality.

* We demand that the University and Government work with us in making Free Education a reality NOW!
* We demand the end of brutality on the student population.
* We demand an end to the normalised violation against black bodies, more especially against the bodies of black women! It cannot be that students are raped and brutalised, and nothing is done.
* We demand the dropping of all charges against the students.They are students fighting for a noble cause and not criminals.
* We call for the immediate dismissal of the Vice Chancellor 'Dr' Albert Van Jaarsveld, who runs our university as a concentration camp and not as a place of learning and the cultivation of ideas. After just over one year in office, the VC has been accused of being racist by numerous DVCs across UKZN. He has turned our institution into police headquarters, and we have seen numerous buildings across all campuses go up in flames during the short period that Albert has been in office. He has shown that he does not have the best interests of the students at heart.

We will be having a peaceful demonstration at Howard College, and call for the university community and broader society to join us. It can not be business as usual in our university until our demands are met.
The mass demonstration is as follows:
Date: Monday 3 October 2016
Time: 7am
Venue: Outside Gate 1 (main gate).

Students are urged to bring their learning materials. We shall study there as we cannot study under the current conditions on campus.

We call on the public, our parents and families to come and join us in solidarity.

Free Decolonized Education Now!

Bring back our cadres!
For more information:
Contact Person:

Mandla Mbuyisa
061-908-2139
email: mandlambuyisa123@gmail.com

Nompilo Mkhize
0769644104