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Ex Plasie on student uprising
Deepa Kesa, a first year Rhodes student and old learner from Merensky High School tells Letaba Herald about her experience during the #feesmustfall protest.
Kesa visited Letaba Herald office during the holidays to observe the news room as she is a first year journalist student.
She tells: Being a Rhodes Student, you would expect me to know that this protest was going to happen.
I am ashamed to say that I only found out about this protest at 01:30 A.M on a Monday.
Students gathered outside the Rhodes Drama department on October 19.
Together they walked around campus to each residence and shouted “Fees must fall!”
When I heard them I immediately did some research and found the aim of the protest.
Being an aspiring journalist, I took my iphone and went outside to try to get some footage of the protest, it was a calm and controlled environment that I was proud to say I was a part of.
The whole university was on a shut down for seven days and all the entrances to the campus have been closed off with whiteboards, dustbins, potplants, fences, bricks and many other materials.
I only started to realize how violent this protest was getting, when students stormed into my residence one night and banged on my door to try and get it open. When I could not attend my own radio show because I could not get out of res and when I was not allowed to attend a doctor’s appointment that I had made awhile ago.
I am all for the protest and it has been an amazing accomplishement, but students were forced to get violent.
Students in Rhodes were being excluded just because they were not financially able to pay the increases of the fee, this made many students uneasy including myself.
People ask why the students had to protest all through the night and do what they did, the answer is simple.
No one listened in broad day light. They were forced to protest at an ungodly time.
Rhodes students stood together and fought, it was beautiful to see everyone stand together and fight for a common purpose.
Food and water was given to the protestors as well.
At the end of the day, universities all across South Africa achieved a 0% increase on 2016 fees that was by far one of the best days during my First Year in Rhodes University.
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