International Student Movement

March 4th - South Africa
Rallies for Free Education

On the same day as the students resisted fees and cuts on the Philippines the South African Students' Congress (Sasco) called for rallies protesting for free education aiming to close down universities in all nine provinces of the country.

At the University of Johannesburg police were out in full force, forcing the protesting students to disperse with water cannons. Rocks and burning rubble had to be removed for some students to enter the university’s premises.
"We demand free quality education", "We are not apologetic. We want free education" and "free quality tertiary education" read some of the posters at the Bunting Road Campus.
Earlier clashes between students and the police and metro officials saw rocks thrown into the roads. Tyres were burnt by the marauding students.

The protest was the first of many protests promised by Sasco. They say they won’t back down until free higher education is a reality in the country.

Hundreds of students protested at the University of Zululand on March 4th and others from the University of KwaZulu-Natal, Mangosuthu University of Technology and the Durban University of Technology were expected to congregate at the latter's Steve Biko Campus for a second protest the next day (March 5th).

"We have decided to engage in protest action demanding free education," said Sasco secretary-general Lazola Ndamase during a press briefing in Joburg.

Sasco confirmed that these protest actions are also linked to the ongoing Spring of Resistance.

more details: sabcnews.com + for some background information: struggle.ws