Achieving Cum Laude is a form of protest - Bonginkosi 'Education' Khanyile
19 April 2017
Durban - Bonginkosi "Education" Khanyile, the longest imprisoned Fees Must Fall student in the country says that achieving Cum Laude despite his incarceration was yet another form of protest.
Speaking to News24, Khanyile, a Durban University of Technology student said he felt that his academic prowess was a message to those who assumed Fees Must Fall activists lacked studious dedication.
"Everything we have done we have done because we feel education is something that should be accessed by everyone in particular black people and the marginalised. Even to pass with cum laude is part of the protest... we do love education. We hope this will inspire the generation that will come after," he said on Wednesday.
Khanyile said fees activists were often labelled as people who were "anti-progress and anti-academic".
"They think we do not prioritise education, that we are hooligans, disruptive and terrorists at work. This is not the case. I hope they see that now."
He passed his National Diploma in Public Management and Economics and is graduating on May 9. He said that he was currently enrolled for his post-graduate course in the same subject.
DUT said it would soon comment on Khanyile's achievement.
Khanyile was arrested in September 2016 for participating in the protests at the Durban University of Technology.
He was denied bail on several occasions and was only released after taking his matter to the Constitutional Court in March.
