How is it possible for a group of protesters, supported by the Student Representative Council (SRC) and Black Students Movement (BSM), to hold the whole of Rhodes University hostage and breach the South African Constitution and Bill of Rights at the same time? Why should a university of over 7000 students shut down just because some students demand lower fees and a lower minimum initial payment (MIP)? Similar scenarios are occurring at universities around the country.
Rhodes SRC president Zikisa Maqubela commented: “The protest is about the minimum initial payment; students are saying it’s too high and they are shutting down the university. We’ve barricaded all entrances to the university so nobody is getting in.” At the heart of this protest is the government’s failure to provide adequate funding to South African universities. Universities haven’t been supported by the Department of Higher Education, and the National Student Financial Aid Scheme (NSFAS), which should be funding poor university students, is short of R51 billion. So if students want real change they should protest outside Blade Nzimande’s office. They have no right to disrupt thousands of others who are starting exams in less than two weeks, many of whom are struggling academically and desperately need this time to learn and study in peace.
The Daily Dispatch reported that about 100 students, some of whom carried sticks, turned people away from Rhodes campus on Monday morning. Section 17 of the Constitution states that: “Everyone has the right, peacefully and unarmed, to assemble, to demonstrate, to picket and to present petitions.” Burning tyres and barricading the entrances and exits of Rhodes to prevent lectures from taking place is not peaceful. Carrying sticks is not “unarmed”, and turning people away constitutes intimidation.
Section 29 provides the “Right to Education”. Just because Blade Nzimande and the government are blocking students’ rights to education does not give students the right to block other students’ rights to education. Section 12 protects "Freedom and Security of the Person" and Section 21 provides that “Everyone has the right to freedom of movement.” People trying to enter the cordoned off roads and being turned away by protestors carrying sticks does not amount to “security of the person” or freedom of movement.
Freedom of movement is important and can be found in Article 13 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, part of its use being to prevent streets, roads and right-of-ways from being blocked or restricted. There is a duty for a private person not to impede the free movement of another. Where a person prevents another from freely entering or leaving an area, either by physically imprisoning them or by threats, that person may be subject to a lawsuit and to criminal charges.