Legitimate protest or hooliganism?

Against a backdrop of violent crime, growing racial tensions, xenophobia, sexual and gender violence, and increasingly violent service delivery protests, another form of violence and thuggery has crept almost unnoticed into the fabric of South African society – unruly protest actions by students on tertiary education campuses. Opinions about the reasons differ, but most agree that the problem is growing.

Some would position this as part and parcel of the overall education crisis in South Africa, which includes the collapse of discipline and respect from primary to tertiary levels. Others would blame it on the growing social tendency of self-entitlement. Others still would suggest the causes to be socio-economic, tied to affordability and bleak future prospects.

Whichever it is, it would appear as if the government and/or education authorities are unable or unwilling to do much about it.

Receiving far less attention in the media than these incidents deserve, student unrest has affected almost every tertiary campus in the country in the past few years. At some, it has reached almost endemic proportions.

It would appear that South African students – the so-called cream of the country’s future – have been establishing a culture of learned thugs and hooligans, resolving issues through protest, violence and intimidation directly in conflict with the civilised values of higher education and intellectual problem-solving that they are intended to espouse.

But if it is any consolation, they are not alone. Student unrest and protests have been sweeping university and college campuses around the world – from Nigeria to California to Greece – in a wave of confrontation with authorities, reminiscent of the worldwide student unrest of the late 1960s. Only back then, the causes were lofty ideals and big issues such as utopian socialism and the Vietnam War, some would say.

Now almost anything is used as an excuse to ”go ape”, argue many from the baby boomer generation. Anything from dissatisfaction with the quality of bread in the cafeteria to increases in fees are cause for destroying property, disrupting classes for those who do not want to protest, and clashing violently with police and security personnel.

Consider some of the most recent examples. Last month, student unrest once again erupted at two campuses of the Durban University of Technology (DUT). The reasons appeared to be rather petty.

The students’ demands included that the number of buses available to and from the university be increased, the quality and price of food served at vending machines and cafeterias on campus be improved, and more vending machines be made available.

Lectures were halted as the clashes between the students and police turned into violent running battles. Some 5 000 striking students chased non-striking students, who were eager to attend lectures, off the campus; and the cars of police and lecturers were stoned.

Higher Education Minister Blade Nzimande finally announced he would commission an independent investigation into the problems here, and the university secured a high court order against 15 members of the student representative council (SRC), preventing them from inciting violence or disruptions and vandalism on campus. That prompted the South African Students Congress (SASCO) to call for the campus to be "rendered ungovernable".

It is hoped that the “independent investigation” would not only look at what may be simply symptoms, but also look at possible deeper shifts or problems in the socio-economic and/or political landscape.

Claims from older people that “things were different in our days” are at fundamental level not always all that correct. It is now documented fact that much of the student revolution of the 1960 could be traced back to universities pushing out old degrees for what were new jobs due to technological changes. This led to situations such as young people with postgraduate qualifications working as low-level clercks.

"Student food” and the like often became focal points for frustrations, as they do today, as many students are heading toward an unsure job market; student jobs to help finance studies are not as easy to come by as they were in a fast-growing economy; and many of their parents, as products of a previous dispensation, are not in a position to finance their studies.

In 2008 then Safety and Security Minister Charles Nqakula replied in Parliament to a question from Independent Democrats MP Haniff Hoosen that in the preceding three years and the first three months of 2008, there had been no less than 648 marches or protests on various campuses. Of these, 211 had involved incidents of violence and destruction of property. Given the fact that in 2005 there were only 186 protests – of which 44 turned violent and destructive – which grew to 235 and 106 respectively in 2006, it is clear that the problem continues to grow and worsen.

Already back in 1998, then Deputy President Thabo Mbeki, in a speech to Parliament, slammed the behaviour of students at the University of Venda, saying they abused their privileges and freedoms. “Only a few days ago, African students burnt down offices at the University of Venda,” he said. “What they were demanding was that the university should give them about R500 000 for a student party, allow each student to have, on average, 30 cans of beer there, and readmit to the university the president of the SRC and a leader of Azasco [Azanian Student Convention] who, in four years, had completed only four courses.”

However, while both Nqakula and Mbeki were aware of the problems already back then, the government since has not been able to come to grips with the problem.