The #FeesMustFall movement in South Africa has been a significant event for nearly a decade, but the current state of affairs in the country's higher education sector remains a topic of debate. In a recent explainer video, Kagiso KG Mogadi and co-host Céline Tshika discuss corruption in higher learning and whether anything has truly improved since the protests a decade ago. Sioux McKenna, from the Centre for Higher Education Research at Rhodes University, warns that the situation is at a precipice, with the government's actions being marked by allegations of corruption.
Students from underresourced backgrounds are often met with the end of education corruption and mismanagement, particularly in the National Student Financial Aid Scheme grants. The same minister of education who joked "students must fall" has been mired in allegations of corruption yet remains in his government position. This has led to students being outraged and may be a matter of time before another wave of protest action spreads across campuses.
Politically connected companies are also allegedly getting tenders and paying kickbacks in areas where there is a big reservoir of money meant for public good. It is shocking that vice-chancellors of universities in South Africa earn more than their counterparts in Europe and New Zealand, when students find themselves sleeping on the street without food.
Student activism and uprisings have had a profound impact on the nation, with the violence of 1976 being a flashpoint in the struggle against apartheid. At what point does that sacrifice bear fruit? Young people have the right to feel frustrated by the decisions and actions of selfish elders who are stealing and trashing their future. As the election year approaches, the solution to solving for X starts to become clear, and the government has been marking their own work for way too long.
SOURCE: Daily Maverick
