Thousands of South African students and alumni based overseas have taken up the cause of protesting students at home by marching through the streets today in support of the FeeMustFall protest.
South African students at some of the world’s most prestigious universities signed an international declaration of support at universities in the US, UK, Australia, Canada, India, New Zealand and China calling for government to accede to the protestors’ demands.
“The declaration says: “We are South Africans and alumni of South African tertiary institutions studying abroad … each of us stands in solidarity with the students, staff and workers protesting in South Africa.”
“Both universities and government have a duty to protect students, not to persecute them when they demand justice from the state and its institutions”.
“It is becoming clearer that funding for education is not a purely economic question, but also a deeply political one”.
Power concedes nothing without demand. In this global struggle for educational justice, the actions of the students in South Africa are a powerful statement that cannot be ignored.”