October 26

October 26

http://qz.com/813400/south-african-police-have-arrested-more-than-500-people-during-protests-for-free-university-education/ 

            With many recent arrests being made, the total number of student arrests since 2015 has reached 567. The manners in which these arrests have been made resemble tactics that were used in the apartheid era with overnight raids in the university residence halls. The police are accused of targeting the movement’s leaders. As this article reports, Mcebo Dlamini, a leader of the movement at Wits University, was arrested in a raid on his campus for charges of theft, assault, and many more. The police claim to be cracking down on the criminality that has evolved out of the movement. Students report that they intend to keep protesting, but the surge of recent arrests, particularly those of the movement’s leaders, has left many people feeling demoralized. The escalation of violence in the past month has resulted in increased private security and police on campuses throughout the country.The author of this article, Lynsey Chutel, has been following the protests and the FMF movement for Quartz for quite some time now. In this article she makes the important point that Jacob Zuma was once a political activist himself and he was convicted and sentenced to prison in 1963 for trying to overthrow the apartheid government. In fact, the entire history of the ANC is made up of political activism, particularly by young, intellectual men such as Zuma. It is both surprising and upsetting that Zuma and the ANC government isn't showing more empathy for the FMF movement.