2016 Fee Protests: A crisis sponsored by the ANC
23 September 2016
The Democratic Alliance Student Organisation (DASO) has gathered here today to hold Jacob Zuma and his ANC accountable for the higher education crisis which our country currently faces.
With 8.9 million South Africans unemployed, and more than half of all young people without a job, many of our youth are losing hope – frustrated by the lack of progress and angry at the way the ANC has undermined their future.
Higher education is not just a luxury, as ANC Secretary General, Gwede Mantashe, shamefully suggested this week. It is one of the most powerful vehicles for progress that our country has. It provides the skills and the knowledge that our children will need to get a job, and place their feet firmly onto the ladder of opportunity.
It is also our most strategic weapon against the inequality which South Africa inherited. If a poor child from Alexandra receives a quality basic education, and then gets the funding support they need to attend an institution of higher education, they will be as successful as a child born in Sandton.