WEBVTT

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♪

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(camera\'s shutter clicks)

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This is a special moment for me,

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as I symbolically assume
the vice chancellorship

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of Wits University.

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(applause)

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A university
that is my alma mater.

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A university
that is the alma mater

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of Nelson Mandela,

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the father of our nation

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and the icon of our world.

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♪

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Like all of our institutions
in this beautiful

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yet tragic land,

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Wits reflects
our country\'s pains

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and its euphoria,

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its successes

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and its failures.

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♪

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I want to apologize
as its new vice chancellor

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to all those
we have done wrong by...

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♪

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...and to pledge
that we collectively

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will work towards creating

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a safe, student-centered,
nonracial,

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culturally prudent
and sensitive

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cosmopolitan
academic environment.

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(fountain bubbling)

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You sit in these institutions
and you think

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you\'re in Cambridge.

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That was purposeful.

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These institutions were made
primarily for white,

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middle-class men.

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♪

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These institutions
were in fact

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a primary part of building
and developing apartheid,

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South Africa
and colonial Africa.

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♪

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(singing in foreign language)

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And so what you have is
university students

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coming of age

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who\'ve gone through
good schooling

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but have also been
at the coalface

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of experiencing racism,
exclusion,

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and the kind of denial
of who people are.

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When a student like myself
or another student

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is learning something
about the world

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from a point of view
that tells you

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that nothing happened
in Africa

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outside of a colonial
experience, for example,

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it cannot be sustainable.

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(drumming, flute trilling)

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They came from the West
and sailed for the East,

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with hatred and disease
flowing from their flesh

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and a burden
to harden our lives.

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They claimed to be friends
when they found us friendly,

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and when they met
with foreigners,

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they fought for the reins.

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Exploiters of Africa,

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Africa my beginning

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and Africa my ending.

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(cheers, applause)

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♪

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(clapping, chanting)

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Our history is a nightmare

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from which we\'re
still trying to awake.

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If you want people to have
a shot at changing

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the socioeconomic reality
that they\'ve inherited,

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then you have to prioritize
higher education.

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(indistinct remarks)

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♪

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(murmur of conversation)

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♪

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Who\'s gonna pay
your balance of the fees?

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Uh, my parents.

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-Your parents.
-Yes.

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Can they make
a payment arrangement?

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No...

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In first year, there were
50 of us in our class,

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and second year,
there were, like, 20.

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We had to see
people that we knew

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very closely, our friends,

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not coming back to school.

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♪

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Post-1994,
we get a massification,

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which means
that these universities

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get opened up
to black people

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and to poor people
and to women

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in ways that was
historically not possible.

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As you have this happening,

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you have the state
withdrawing subsidy.

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(singing in foreign language)

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There was an argument
made in the \'90s,

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particularly by people
in positions of power

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at the the time

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that we needed
to think more critically

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about priorities,

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and it was felt
that higher education

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wasn\'t one
of those priorities.

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How are you?

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♪

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The big universities,

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the ones with brand value,

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the ones where
the elite used to go,

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increased their fees
by double digits.

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The logical thing to do,

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because as the subsidies go,

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you want to retain quality,
you increase fees.

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The poorer universities
couldn\'t do it.

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So they did increase fees
but by lower amounts.

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♪

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♪ Yeah ♪

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♪ This is our future
you barter ♪

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♪ Look at the Freedom Charter ♪

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♪ Sent the police
in armored Vs

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but our fathers were martyrs ♪

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♪ See the greed
that you harbor ♪

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♪ See the seed
that you planted,

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this university
is lyin\' to me ♪

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♪ See what you started,
started ♪

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♪ So much for liberation ♪

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♪ We were never born free
of deceit or desperation ♪

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♪ They say we set fire
to the nation ♪

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♪ But all we want
is decolonization ♪

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(singing in foreign language)

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♪

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(singing in foreign language)

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♪

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(elevator bell dings)

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♪

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It\'s a space where
you don\'t have a language.

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We don\'t think that the way
the university is structured

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favors students.

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We think that,
you know,

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there\'s no way students
can ever win anything.

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I was taking three
to my lawyers,

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-that all it is, so it\'s just...
-Three.

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The clear message that we have
for the university is that

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we can\'t continue like this.

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It was a very odd figure
and a very high figure.

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Were we going to accept
the increase,

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or were we going to fight?

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And we were clear
that we were going to fight.

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Then speak to the World Bank
and people and say to them

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we\'re talking.

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I had a meeting
with President Zuma

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which I wrote on behalf
of all of the vice chancellors

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at the end of September,

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saying we\'re heading
for a perfect storm.

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When is the next meeting?

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It\'s now,
at half past twelve.

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Shaeera slept over
at my house that night.

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I remember the morning
we woke up,

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Mom was like,
\"Do you want some tea?\"

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\"No, no, we\'re fine,
we\'re fine.\"

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\"Oh, you guys are going
to Wits early.\"

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\"Oh no, we have work.\"

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Don\'t tell you parents
you\'re about to physically

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block the gates
with your bodies.

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(students chanting)

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I knew that there was
gonna be a march,

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but from experience,

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when the SRC
organizes a march,

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it never yielded any result.

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So I wasn\'t interested,

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even though
the Fees Must Fall issue

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spoke directly to me,

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I really wasn\'t interested.

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We can\'t protest the old--
the same way we used to protest,

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to give a memorandum
and so on.

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We need to shut down
this university.

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The numbers that came
gave us confidence

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to continue shutting down.

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We\'re going to go
for the long haul,

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you know, we\'re going--
we\'re in it now.

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(students chanting)

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♪

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So when I read the email
saying that any student

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who participates
in the protest

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will be suspended
and we will call the police,

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I was like,
this is pure intimidation.

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And me being interested
in social justice

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and human rights
and all of that,

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I got angry,
I was livid,

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I was like,
you can\'t do that.

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That was my first awakening.

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(indistinct remarks)

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We have been,
as black people,

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excluded from
the education system

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for such a long time.

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If we are interested

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about this thing
called transformation,

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then we have to ensure
that there\'s justice.

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(hose hisses)

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This is like
a food security project.

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Whatever food is
produced from here

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goes to the food bank

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and gets given
to the students

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that are beneficiaries
of the food bank program.

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(sensor beeps)

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♪

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Many academics find themselves
throughout the year

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being approached by students
for money to buy food.

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You have poorer students
who have to sit

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in the same class
as students who,

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in their first year
when they passed matric,

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their parents buy them
a Mercedes-Benz or BMW

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so they can drive
to university.

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The inequality
is far more manifest

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at a place
like Wits University

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and other former, you know,
English-speaking or, you know,

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the top white universities.

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And these things contribute
to the kind of consciousness

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and the politics
that have evolved

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in the Fees Must Fall
movement.

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♪

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Not only are students oppressed
by the violence of the system

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in that they\'re
financially excluded,

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but so are workers, right?

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And to an even worse extent,
because workers have

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even less agency
than students do, right?

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In some ways, the university
needs us to exist,

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as opposed to workers, who can
be more easily replaced.

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(murmur of conversation)

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We are not employed by Wits,

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but we work under
the contracted companies.

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(distant hum of vacuum cleaner)

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In 2001, when this
outsourcing started,

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the employees who were
employed by Wits,

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they now became ex-Wits,

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and what they lost was
up to half their salaries,

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and they no longer had
medical aid.

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With the contract companies,
you work for years and years,

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and when you go on pension,
you get next to nothing.

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The beast in the house
was this outsourcing,

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and we decided
that we should have

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a national day
against outsourcing.

00:12:11.208 --> 00:12:14.458
(singing in foreign language)

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(indistinct amplified address)

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(crowd cheers)

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Ideally, it\'s part
of the same struggle.

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You want a more just society,

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you want a dignified society,

00:12:28.625 --> 00:12:32.333
and you want
a decommodified university.

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(chanting in foreign language)

00:12:43.916 --> 00:12:45.083
I\'d like to take
this opportunity

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to hand over our demands
to (unintelligible)...

00:12:50.541 --> 00:12:51.208
(crowd shouting)

00:12:51.208 --> 00:12:53.583
Universities are being
modeled around

00:12:53.583 --> 00:12:54.875
the way that companies operate.

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Purge the outsourcing,
purge it!

00:12:58.333 --> 00:12:59.625
Purge it!

00:12:59.625 --> 00:13:04.041
Forward to a minimum wage
of 4,500 rand.

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(crowd shouting)

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Minimum wage, minimum wage.

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(protesters clapping, chanting)

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You see the workers
at our universities

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as our mothers and fathers.

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We have a responsibility
not just to come here to study

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but to go back
into our communities

00:13:30.666 --> 00:13:32.958
and to make sure
that we are uplifting

00:13:32.958 --> 00:13:34.625
and empowering
our communities.

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And if we leave here
without doing that,

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we will have failed
as Wits students.

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Thank you very much.
Amandla!

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Running on that steam
of October 6,

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you now have students, workers,
and likeminded academics

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who are on the same page
not just about insourcing

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but also on the issue
of fee increases.

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(chanting)

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Not only do we outnumber the
university management and staff,

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but together
as workers and students,

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there\'s nothing we can\'t do.

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♪

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(protesters chanting)

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♪

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They didn\'t make me
sit on the floor.

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I came here, I walked with them,
and I sat.

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I was criticized
by the vice chancellors.

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They said I gave breath
to the struggle.

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I gave oxygen to it.

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In some senses,
they\'re right.

00:14:47.166 --> 00:14:48.583
I did.

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♪

00:14:49.291 --> 00:14:52.833
Adam sees himself
both as a scholar of the left

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and as a participant
of the left,

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now finding himself
in a position of authority

00:14:57.625 --> 00:15:01.250
in which that authority
has constantly been challenged

00:15:01.250 --> 00:15:04.333
by this emerging
student movement.

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Adam Habib,
in his student days,

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was probably the equivalent
of what we are now.

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I don\'t know,
I didn\'t know him then,

00:15:11.541 --> 00:15:13.750
I wasn\'t alive,
but we hear

00:15:13.750 --> 00:15:14.875
that he was progressive.

00:15:14.875 --> 00:15:17.541
He was involved in
the Black Student Movement,

00:15:17.541 --> 00:15:20.333
and in his early career
as an academic in Natal

00:15:20.333 --> 00:15:23.833
was regarded as one of the most
kind of radical members

00:15:23.833 --> 00:15:27.000
of the emerging
new black academy,

00:15:27.000 --> 00:15:29.458
demanding unionization
at universities

00:15:29.458 --> 00:15:33.625
and fighting for a particular
kind of transformation.

00:15:33.625 --> 00:15:40.250
♪

00:15:40.250 --> 00:15:43.000
I believe profoundly
that the world will be

00:15:43.000 --> 00:15:47.833
a far better place
if we live and created

00:15:47.833 --> 00:15:50.333
a more egalitarian outcome.

00:15:50.333 --> 00:15:52.500
♪

00:15:52.500 --> 00:15:55.999
The struggle for
a free education system

00:15:55.999 --> 00:16:00.375
is an important plank
in that egalitarian project.

00:16:00.375 --> 00:16:03.666
♪

00:16:03.666 --> 00:16:06.541
(gunshots)

00:16:06.541 --> 00:16:12.333
♪

00:16:26.750 --> 00:16:29.833
(protesters shouting)

00:16:30.541 --> 00:16:34.791
My mandate
is to keep this university

00:16:34.791 --> 00:16:35.916
a quality institution.

00:16:35.916 --> 00:16:38.541
And that means I need to keep
its income streams.

00:16:38.541 --> 00:16:41.333
So there\'s no way
I\'m giving zero

00:16:41.333 --> 00:16:44.250
until the state makes up
that money.

00:16:50.000 --> 00:16:54.166
Never before had a meeting
of this nature taken place,

00:16:54.166 --> 00:16:56.666
where the university
management,

00:16:56.666 --> 00:16:58.416
the Executive Committee
of Council,

00:16:58.416 --> 00:17:00.583
would have to sit
in front of students

00:17:00.583 --> 00:17:02.916
and engage with the students.

00:17:02.916 --> 00:17:06.999
It is not Adam who\'s in charge
of this university,

00:17:06.999 --> 00:17:09.000
it\'s the students.

00:17:09.000 --> 00:17:11.125
(cheers, applause)

00:17:11.125 --> 00:17:13.208
The university,

00:17:13.208 --> 00:17:14.791
as we stand now,

00:17:14.791 --> 00:17:16.750
is under new management,

00:17:16.750 --> 00:17:20.708
and that management
is sitting here.

00:17:20.708 --> 00:17:25.458
(whistle blowing,
protesters chanting)

00:17:58.458 --> 00:18:02.041
(singing in foreign language)

00:18:02.041 --> 00:18:07.999
♪

00:18:07.999 --> 00:18:11.500
(protesters chanting)

00:18:11.500 --> 00:18:14.208
♪

00:18:14.208 --> 00:18:15.041
In the history of Wits,

00:18:15.041 --> 00:18:16.625
there\'s only been
nine university assemblies.

00:18:16.625 --> 00:18:20.208
This an occasion where
the entire university comes

00:18:20.208 --> 00:18:22.791
and decides on
a particular issue,

00:18:22.791 --> 00:18:24.333
a burning issue.

00:18:24.333 --> 00:18:27.708
(protesters chanting)

00:18:27.708 --> 00:18:29.791
Council starts
micromanaging this.

00:18:29.791 --> 00:18:31.541
Who\'s going to speak?

00:18:31.541 --> 00:18:33.541
What are they gonna say?

00:18:33.541 --> 00:18:35.125
And where is it going to be?

00:18:35.125 --> 00:18:37.875
It\'s as though
they didn\'t realize

00:18:37.875 --> 00:18:40.541
that things had changed.

00:18:40.791 --> 00:18:42.958
The power structure
in the university

00:18:42.958 --> 00:18:43.916
had been inversed,

00:18:43.916 --> 00:18:45.750
and actually,
the students really,

00:18:45.750 --> 00:18:47.541
for a moment,
for a while,

00:18:47.541 --> 00:18:48.208
were in control.

00:18:48.208 --> 00:18:51.125
This was really
a revolutionary moment.

00:18:51.125 --> 00:18:57.166
♪

00:18:57.166 --> 00:18:59.333
They had blocked off
Solomon Mahlangu House,

00:18:59.333 --> 00:19:00.750
they\'d completely
shut it down.

00:19:00.750 --> 00:19:04.041
They had put private security,
campus control.

00:19:04.041 --> 00:19:06.708
But campus control
was on our side.

00:19:06.708 --> 00:19:08.708
And we obviously knew
that they wanted

00:19:08.708 --> 00:19:09.791
to meet on the lawns,

00:19:09.791 --> 00:19:12.000
because it\'s much easier
to disperse people

00:19:12.000 --> 00:19:12.958
in an open area.

00:19:12.958 --> 00:19:16.750
Around one o\'clock,
they still hadn\'t opened it up.

00:19:16.750 --> 00:19:23.250
♪

00:19:23.250 --> 00:19:25.875
(protesters chanting)

00:19:25.875 --> 00:19:27.875
(glass shattering)

00:19:27.875 --> 00:19:30.166
(screaming)

00:19:30.166 --> 00:19:36.208
♪

00:19:36.208 --> 00:19:40.375
(protesters clapping, chanting)

00:19:40.375 --> 00:19:47.750
♪

00:19:50.541 --> 00:19:52.833
Why aren\'t you addressing
the students at this hour,

00:19:52.833 --> 00:19:54.791
-professor?
-If you want an engagement

00:19:54.791 --> 00:19:55.666
with both sides,

00:19:55.666 --> 00:19:56.999
you need integrity
from both sides,

00:19:56.999 --> 00:19:58.666
and that\'s the position
we said.

00:19:58.666 --> 00:20:00.125
What happened
is the students

00:20:00.125 --> 00:20:01.208
broke into the concourse,

00:20:01.208 --> 00:20:02.916
they occupied
a confined space,

00:20:02.916 --> 00:20:06.041
they--they violated
health and safety protocols

00:20:06.041 --> 00:20:06.833
of the university.

00:20:06.833 --> 00:20:09.000
I can\'t waive
those kinds of things.

00:20:09.000 --> 00:20:12.416
(protesters chanting)

00:20:34.458 --> 00:20:37.625
(indistinct conversation)

00:20:39.999 --> 00:20:43.500
I went to an Islamic school,
a Muslim school.

00:20:43.500 --> 00:20:45.583
Christine,
our domestic helper,

00:20:45.583 --> 00:20:46.375
I grew up with her son,

00:20:46.375 --> 00:20:48.375
and he came to the same school
that I did.

00:20:48.375 --> 00:20:50.500
And the way
that he was treated

00:20:50.500 --> 00:20:53.375
and the way
that people saw him,

00:20:53.375 --> 00:20:57.500
because he was African,
was--was different.

00:20:57.916 --> 00:20:59.958
He had a lot of friends
and he was popular,

00:20:59.958 --> 00:21:02.791
but there was always
this us-versus-them,

00:21:02.791 --> 00:21:05.125
and for me,
that always made me

00:21:05.125 --> 00:21:07.541
very aware of race.

00:21:08.666 --> 00:21:10.333
-Amandla!
-Awethu!

00:21:10.333 --> 00:21:13.750
Forward, the struggle
of work is forward!

00:21:13.750 --> 00:21:14.375
Forward!

00:21:14.375 --> 00:21:16.666
The idea of social justice
in Islam

00:21:16.666 --> 00:21:18.833
has always been very clear.

00:21:18.833 --> 00:21:21.583
If you can actually contribute
to structural change,

00:21:21.583 --> 00:21:22.833
for me,
that\'s a religious duty.

00:21:22.833 --> 00:21:26.916
We are moving (unintelligible)
October 6 revolution.

00:21:26.916 --> 00:21:33.416
That is when we created
(unintelligible) charter.

00:21:34.458 --> 00:21:36.625
Guys, guys.

00:21:36.625 --> 00:21:37.958
(group \"shushing\")

00:21:37.958 --> 00:21:39.166
Comrades.

00:21:39.166 --> 00:21:39.999
What you are doing now,

00:21:39.999 --> 00:21:42.500
what we are doing now
is very disrespectful.

00:21:42.500 --> 00:21:44.958
It\'s extremely disrespectful.

00:21:44.958 --> 00:21:46.125
Can we please allow...

00:21:46.125 --> 00:21:48.625
Early on,
there were problems,

00:21:48.625 --> 00:21:52.375
and it wasn\'t easy
to be a woman

00:21:52.375 --> 00:21:53.708
and to be a leader.

00:21:53.708 --> 00:21:54.750
...that this is a revolution,

00:21:54.750 --> 00:21:58.458
it\'s not going to be
one issue that we fight.

00:21:58.458 --> 00:22:00.708
It\'s going to be many issues.

00:22:00.708 --> 00:22:03.500
Despite the fact
that myself and Ulo

00:22:03.500 --> 00:22:05.333
were the elected leadership,

00:22:05.333 --> 00:22:07.541
it was really our decision
to protest

00:22:07.541 --> 00:22:10.250
and our decision
to shut down the university.

00:22:10.250 --> 00:22:14.958
We had to allow
for Vuyani and Mcebo

00:22:14.958 --> 00:22:18.250
to be alongside us.

00:22:18.250 --> 00:22:19.458
(protesters chanting)

00:22:19.458 --> 00:22:21.791
If you look at the first
few days of the protest,

00:22:21.791 --> 00:22:25.833
whether it was images
circulated in media,

00:22:25.833 --> 00:22:26.875
or social media,

00:22:26.875 --> 00:22:30.208
it was the image
of Vuyani with Dlamini,

00:22:30.208 --> 00:22:33.916
instead of the image
of Nompendulo and Shaeera,

00:22:33.916 --> 00:22:38.333
who were the incoming
and outgoing SRC president.

00:22:38.333 --> 00:22:45.250
♪

00:22:45.250 --> 00:22:48.708
We created a What\'s On group,
it was Imbokodo Must Lead,

00:22:48.708 --> 00:22:52.000
imbokodo being women,
strong women.

00:22:52.000 --> 00:22:54.958
And that\'s when we started
to formulate really

00:22:54.958 --> 00:22:58.375
how women were gonna
reclaim their space.

00:22:58.375 --> 00:23:00.000
♪

00:23:00.000 --> 00:23:01.750
They agree on forms
of representation.

00:23:01.750 --> 00:23:04.000
One is a hashtag
which is #ImbokoLead,

00:23:04.000 --> 00:23:05.375
and then the other
was going to be

00:23:05.375 --> 00:23:08.666
the wearing of the doek
during the occupation

00:23:08.666 --> 00:23:10.166
the next day.

00:23:10.625 --> 00:23:12.000
So the doek is
a head wrap.

00:23:12.000 --> 00:23:14.416
We buy what we can afford
at the time,

00:23:14.416 --> 00:23:16.416
and we\'re tying doeks.

00:23:16.416 --> 00:23:17.666
And what was interesting was

00:23:17.666 --> 00:23:19.291
about what would happen
in photographs

00:23:19.291 --> 00:23:20.583
that would come up
of the protest.

00:23:20.583 --> 00:23:24.000
Like, women would be
more collectively visible.

00:23:24.000 --> 00:23:28.750
♪

00:23:28.750 --> 00:23:30.375
We started seeing more
of Shaeera,

00:23:30.375 --> 00:23:31.875
we started seeing more
of Nompendulo,

00:23:31.875 --> 00:23:35.458
and it\'s because
there was a movement brewing

00:23:35.458 --> 00:23:37.416
by women feminists.

00:23:37.416 --> 00:23:41.250
♪

00:23:41.250 --> 00:23:44.416
It\'s also changing the character
of the movement.

00:23:44.416 --> 00:23:47.999
It\'s not just marginalization,
sidelining

00:23:47.999 --> 00:23:49.083
that\'s being put on the table,

00:23:49.083 --> 00:23:52.708
it\'s also the ways in which
we speak to each other.

00:23:52.708 --> 00:23:55.958
It\'s masculinist
forms of organizing

00:23:55.958 --> 00:23:57.791
that are being questioned.

00:23:57.791 --> 00:23:59.958
♪

00:23:59.958 --> 00:24:00.958
Black women,

00:24:00.958 --> 00:24:02.333
black lesbian women,

00:24:02.333 --> 00:24:03.125
transsexual women

00:24:03.125 --> 00:24:05.041
have stood up
into leadership positions

00:24:05.041 --> 00:24:06.999
because there\'s been
a space that has said

00:24:06.999 --> 00:24:10.875
let us recognize
that racism and capitalism

00:24:10.875 --> 00:24:11.666
is problematic,

00:24:11.666 --> 00:24:13.583
but that patriarchy
and homophobia

00:24:13.583 --> 00:24:15.291
is right up there too.

00:24:15.291 --> 00:24:24.541
♪

00:24:27.208 --> 00:24:28.583
I think the last time we had

00:24:28.583 --> 00:24:30.291
a significant
generational conflict

00:24:30.291 --> 00:24:32.416
was the \'60s, early \'70s.

00:24:32.416 --> 00:24:35.416
And I think we\'re entering
that moment again.

00:24:35.416 --> 00:24:38.375
You\'re beginning to see it
in multiple manifestations,

00:24:38.375 --> 00:24:39.583
you\'re seeing it
in the emergence

00:24:39.583 --> 00:24:42.291
of student protests
in South Africa,

00:24:42.291 --> 00:24:44.083
and you also see it
in the emergence

00:24:44.083 --> 00:24:48.708
of the youth involved in
service delivery protests

00:24:48.708 --> 00:24:50.791
in ordinary society.

00:24:50.791 --> 00:24:53.416
You\'re seeing in the emergence
in the United States

00:24:53.416 --> 00:24:54.291
of Black Lives Matter.

00:24:54.291 --> 00:24:55.958
-Say it loud!
-I\'m black and I\'m proud!

00:24:55.958 --> 00:24:59.583
-Say it loud.
-I\'m black and I\'m proud!

00:24:59.583 --> 00:25:09.833
♪

00:25:13.583 --> 00:25:17.375
(protesters chanting
\"Rhodes Must Fall\")

00:25:17.375 --> 00:25:23.708
♪

00:25:23.708 --> 00:25:27.500
That statue symbolizes
the exclusion of black bodies

00:25:27.500 --> 00:25:28.625
from a particular space.

00:25:28.625 --> 00:25:31.500
And it stands there proudly
at the entrance

00:25:31.500 --> 00:25:32.791
of the university,

00:25:32.791 --> 00:25:38.041
and that symbolism
is a representation

00:25:38.041 --> 00:25:41.541
of how much needs to change.

00:25:41.541 --> 00:25:44.708
(protesters cheering)

00:25:44.708 --> 00:25:53.999
♪

00:25:58.999 --> 00:25:59.958
♪

00:25:59.958 --> 00:26:03.250
If you can have an education
that is, number one,

00:26:03.250 --> 00:26:03.999
Afrocentric,

00:26:03.999 --> 00:26:09.666
where African ideas
are at the center

00:26:09.666 --> 00:26:10.458
and are important,

00:26:10.458 --> 00:26:14.875
and are as overemphasized
as Western ideas are,

00:26:14.875 --> 00:26:18.291
where we have African ideas
being valued,

00:26:18.291 --> 00:26:22.166
African knowledge systems
being valued,

00:26:22.166 --> 00:26:26.999
then for me,
that is decolonization.

00:26:26.999 --> 00:26:37.041
♪

00:26:40.666 --> 00:26:44.375
We got comfortable
at Solomon House.

00:26:44.375 --> 00:26:45.833
♪

00:26:45.833 --> 00:26:48.208
It was so important
in building unity

00:26:48.208 --> 00:26:51.625
and solidarity
amongst ourselves.

00:26:51.625 --> 00:26:59.041
♪

00:26:59.041 --> 00:27:01.333
The education team also
started playing around

00:27:01.333 --> 00:27:05.750
with the idea of what would
a decolonized library look like?

00:27:05.750 --> 00:27:08.083
♪

00:27:08.083 --> 00:27:10.416
So it provided also
an alternative.

00:27:10.416 --> 00:27:13.708
It created a world
we wanted to live in.

00:27:13.708 --> 00:27:16.333
♪

00:27:16.333 --> 00:27:19.000
I\'ve noted two,
I\'ve noted three...

00:27:19.000 --> 00:27:21.583
We opened the room up
for lecturers to come and teach,

00:27:21.583 --> 00:27:25.250
see if the ideas will find
expression.

00:27:25.250 --> 00:27:26.583
Let\'s put them to a test.

00:27:26.583 --> 00:27:28.833
Let\'s think through together.

00:27:28.833 --> 00:27:35.166
♪

00:27:35.166 --> 00:27:36.583
I think there was
something about

00:27:36.583 --> 00:27:38.208
affirming a way
of knowing something

00:27:38.208 --> 00:27:40.833
that had not been affirmed
in this place.

00:27:40.833 --> 00:27:41.791
It was a language,

00:27:41.791 --> 00:27:43.166
a song your grandmother
sang with you.

00:27:43.166 --> 00:27:46.041
You feel something
you\'ve known your whole life

00:27:46.041 --> 00:27:47.458
is being affirmed.

00:27:47.458 --> 00:27:48.000
♪

00:27:48.000 --> 00:27:49.958
And for you to claim,
like, that space is--

00:27:49.958 --> 00:27:52.833
like you own the land,
you know?

00:27:52.833 --> 00:28:03.041
♪

00:28:11.458 --> 00:28:13.750
(chanting)

00:28:13.750 --> 00:28:23.999
♪

00:28:40.625 --> 00:28:43.500
(chanting)

00:28:43.500 --> 00:28:53.750
♪

00:28:55.958 --> 00:29:00.041
By Monday, we had a call
to meet the minister.

00:29:00.041 --> 00:29:03.833
And when the minister
had engaged us,

00:29:03.833 --> 00:29:05.250
the idea of a six percent image,

00:29:05.250 --> 00:29:08.583
which is inflation,
no real increase.

00:29:09.125 --> 00:29:11.000
We bought into that.

00:29:14.000 --> 00:29:16.125
The stakeholders
agreed to encourage

00:29:16.125 --> 00:29:18.208
their respective
constituencies

00:29:18.208 --> 00:29:22.999
to engage in institutional
negotiations at universities,

00:29:22.999 --> 00:29:26.083
with a view to achieve
a fee increase

00:29:26.083 --> 00:29:33.375
of not higher than a--
a CPI-related increase

00:29:33.375 --> 00:29:37.250
of six percent for 2016.

00:29:41.958 --> 00:29:44.125
If the students
don\'t accept this,

00:29:44.125 --> 00:29:46.541
we\'ll start
our own movement.

00:29:46.541 --> 00:29:48.416
Students Must Fall.

00:29:48.416 --> 00:29:50.625
(laughter)

00:29:50.625 --> 00:29:55.375
♪

00:29:55.375 --> 00:29:58.791
(chanting \"Fees Must Fall!\")

00:29:58.791 --> 00:30:02.000
The anger among students
had built,

00:30:02.000 --> 00:30:03.083
workers had joined us,

00:30:03.083 --> 00:30:05.916
people were going
to Parliament en masse.

00:30:05.916 --> 00:30:08.458
(chanting \"Blade must fall!\")

00:30:08.458 --> 00:30:10.000
♪

00:30:10.000 --> 00:30:13.666
Students had entered from
like the back of Parliament,

00:30:13.666 --> 00:30:17.541
and all of a sudden the gate
was open in the front

00:30:17.541 --> 00:30:20.166
and we just entered.

00:30:20.833 --> 00:30:21.500
When you got inside,

00:30:21.500 --> 00:30:24.583
that\'s when the shit
hit the fan.

00:30:24.583 --> 00:30:29.291
♪

00:30:29.291 --> 00:30:32.541
Police respond differently
to white protestors,

00:30:32.541 --> 00:30:35.500
and so quite spontaneously
white protestors

00:30:35.500 --> 00:30:38.083
were asked to--
to offer themselves

00:30:38.083 --> 00:30:39.208
into the front
of the march,

00:30:39.208 --> 00:30:42.000
such that they could
protect some of the--

00:30:42.000 --> 00:30:43.791
the black students.

00:30:43.791 --> 00:30:45.041
And it worked once or twice,

00:30:45.041 --> 00:30:47.333
but when they got to Parliament

00:30:47.333 --> 00:30:48.166
and people realized that,

00:30:48.166 --> 00:30:49.999
\"Hey, these people,
doesn\'t matter what color,

00:30:49.999 --> 00:30:51.666
they\'re gonna storm
this Parliament,

00:30:51.666 --> 00:30:53.541
this is like
an historic event,

00:30:53.541 --> 00:30:55.791
that we need to stop this.\"

00:30:55.791 --> 00:31:04.833
♪

00:31:04.833 --> 00:31:07.291
I had never seen
the power of students

00:31:07.291 --> 00:31:09.708
like that fighting back.

00:31:24.875 --> 00:31:25.875
Fuck you! Fuck you!

00:31:25.875 --> 00:31:30.041
Fuck you, we\'re doing this
for your children also.

00:31:30.041 --> 00:31:32.208
You can\'t afford
these fees as well,

00:31:32.208 --> 00:31:35.458
and you\'re here
going to abuse us.

00:31:37.291 --> 00:31:40.166
(commotion)

00:32:00.208 --> 00:32:03.916
These are the emergence
of some sort of beginnings

00:32:03.916 --> 00:32:05.458
of a national coalition
that exists

00:32:05.458 --> 00:32:08.999
outside of the control
of the ANC-aligned movement.

00:32:08.999 --> 00:32:11.666
But it really just represents
a growing movement

00:32:11.666 --> 00:32:14.375
that people are realizing
that they need to work together

00:32:14.375 --> 00:32:16.458
in order to make any gains.

00:32:16.458 --> 00:32:22.291
♪

00:32:22.291 --> 00:32:27.500
You are so powerful you closed
Parliament from Johannesburg.

00:32:27.500 --> 00:32:29.458
(cheering)

00:32:30.125 --> 00:32:31.333
I put it to the
(unintelligible),

00:32:31.333 --> 00:32:33.250
why don\'t we go
to Luthuli House?

00:32:33.250 --> 00:32:36.916
This is where the powers are,
let\'s go there.

00:32:36.916 --> 00:32:39.333
(chanting)

00:32:42.208 --> 00:32:43.791
People would constantly
come to me and say,

00:32:43.791 --> 00:32:45.583
\"Chief, do you see
these numbers?\"

00:32:45.583 --> 00:32:49.208
And they were like increasing
as we were going.

00:32:49.208 --> 00:32:50.875
UJ was now there.

00:32:50.875 --> 00:32:51.791
Wits was now there.

00:32:51.791 --> 00:32:53.083
Ordinary people
were there.

00:32:53.083 --> 00:32:57.500
There were even busses of people
we did not anticipate.

00:32:58.166 --> 00:33:01.000
The PYA knew that
without the EFF

00:33:01.000 --> 00:33:02.875
their numbers
would shrink, right?

00:33:02.875 --> 00:33:04.999
The EFF knew
that without the PYA

00:33:04.999 --> 00:33:07.625
the numbers
would shrink, right?

00:33:07.625 --> 00:33:09.375
But, equally,

00:33:09.375 --> 00:33:11.458
with those numbers there,

00:33:11.458 --> 00:33:16.791
we could not
fully play party line.

00:33:17.500 --> 00:33:20.458
We had to all the time speak

00:33:20.458 --> 00:33:22.625
first and foremost
as students.

00:33:22.625 --> 00:33:24.791
That was our first identity.

00:33:24.791 --> 00:33:27.208
(chanting)

00:33:34.333 --> 00:33:36.083
Who is denying us
free education?

00:33:36.083 --> 00:33:37.833
It\'s the government.
Who runs the government?

00:33:37.833 --> 00:33:40.416
Which political party
runs the government?

00:33:40.416 --> 00:33:41.416
It\'s the ANC.

00:33:41.416 --> 00:33:44.666
(chanting \"The ANC must go!\")

00:33:45.791 --> 00:33:48.416
This is where
The Freedom Fighter

00:33:48.416 --> 00:33:50.833
is (unintelligible)
in the world.

00:33:50.833 --> 00:33:51.750
(cheering)

00:33:51.750 --> 00:33:55.875
The doors of learning
will be opened for all.

00:33:55.875 --> 00:34:00.250
The revolution
doesn\'t come to you,

00:34:00.250 --> 00:34:01.666
you take it.

00:34:01.666 --> 00:34:03.041
(cheering)

00:34:03.999 --> 00:34:06.125
Gwede Mantashe is standing there
on the stage.

00:34:06.125 --> 00:34:09.708
And I say, \"Guys,
this is not good up there.

00:34:09.708 --> 00:34:10.750
This guy must come down here.

00:34:10.750 --> 00:34:13.416
There\'s no stage
to be assumed by anyone.\"

00:34:13.416 --> 00:34:16.416
ANC, come down to the people.

00:34:16.416 --> 00:34:17.958
(cheering)

00:34:17.958 --> 00:34:20.999
(chanting, singing)

00:34:23.333 --> 00:34:25.791
The Fees Must Fall Movement
came about organically.

00:34:25.791 --> 00:34:29.291
It belongs to everyone
and no one at the same time.

00:34:29.291 --> 00:34:30.375
And I think
that\'s something

00:34:30.375 --> 00:34:31.875
that our elders
sometimes forget,

00:34:31.875 --> 00:34:33.999
that we\'re structured
in a very different way

00:34:33.999 --> 00:34:36.875
to the politics
that they\'re used to.

00:34:36.875 --> 00:34:39.916
(chanting, singing)

00:34:44.208 --> 00:34:47.250
(cheering, applause)

00:34:49.916 --> 00:34:50.916
(chanting)

00:34:50.916 --> 00:34:52.833
And there was a negotiation
because Gwede Mantashe

00:34:52.833 --> 00:34:54.791
was like,
\"I\'m not coming out here,\"

00:34:54.791 --> 00:34:56.083
and then eventually he did.

00:34:56.083 --> 00:34:58.166
And then Vuyani
pushed it forward

00:34:58.166 --> 00:34:59.333
and further and said,

00:34:59.333 --> 00:35:00.916
\"So you need to sit down
with us.\"

00:35:00.916 --> 00:35:02.833
Comrades, we are
(unintelligible)

00:35:02.833 --> 00:35:05.750
that we are going
to make power sit down.

00:35:05.750 --> 00:35:08.208
We must not take back
on that one.

00:35:08.208 --> 00:35:13.041
The SG must sit down
(unintelligible) sit down.

00:35:13.041 --> 00:35:14.000
You must sit down.

00:35:14.000 --> 00:35:17.500
This was the moment
where, of course,

00:35:17.500 --> 00:35:19.416
the ANC student leaders

00:35:19.416 --> 00:35:21.666
jumped in
and changed the nature,

00:35:21.666 --> 00:35:26.541
when, in fact, the crowd was
quite happy to see that happen.

00:35:27.791 --> 00:35:30.916
Asking an elder
to sit down on the road,

00:35:30.916 --> 00:35:33.500
I mean,
it\'s very disrespectful.

00:35:33.500 --> 00:35:35.333
I approached him afterwards
and I was saying,

00:35:35.333 --> 00:35:36.375
\"Well, what were you doing?

00:35:36.375 --> 00:35:37.708
Because that was
really out of order.

00:35:37.708 --> 00:35:39.291
We hadn\'t agreed to that.\"

00:35:39.291 --> 00:35:41.958
We were gonna handle
(unintelligible) memorandum.

00:35:41.958 --> 00:35:45.500
We were going to then
come back to Wits.

00:35:45.500 --> 00:35:47.583
We were not going
to occupy Luthuli House,

00:35:47.583 --> 00:35:49.166
that was never
part of the plan,

00:35:49.166 --> 00:35:50.416
and if it was part
of the plan,

00:35:50.416 --> 00:35:52.125
we should have discussed it
at the meeting.

00:35:52.125 --> 00:35:55.333
The hashtag that was trending
was #OccupyLuthuliHouse.

00:35:55.333 --> 00:35:57.000
I thought we were here
to occupy.

00:35:57.000 --> 00:35:59.333
I thought you were here
to ask power,

00:35:59.333 --> 00:36:00.999
\"What are you
doing for this--

00:36:00.999 --> 00:36:03.625
for--for young people
in this country?

00:36:03.625 --> 00:36:04.666
Why haven\'t fees fallen?

00:36:04.666 --> 00:36:07.375
Why do we have continued
academic exclusion?\"

00:36:07.375 --> 00:36:13.500
But it was--it was like
we\'re in an ANC rally.

00:36:29.999 --> 00:36:31.583
(cheering)

00:36:31.583 --> 00:36:41.833
♪

00:36:58.750 --> 00:37:03.833
This letter is included as part
of my visa application.

00:37:03.833 --> 00:37:08.041
I got a call from the presidency
saying, \"What do you think?\"

00:37:08.041 --> 00:37:10.708
After consultation
with my VCs,

00:37:10.708 --> 00:37:12.166
I released
a statement saying

00:37:12.166 --> 00:37:13.500
the university
vice chancellors

00:37:13.500 --> 00:37:15.125
are backing the struggle,

00:37:15.125 --> 00:37:15.958
zero percent.

00:37:15.958 --> 00:37:17.750
There are some people
who say that, well,

00:37:17.750 --> 00:37:18.791
this is a flip-flop.

00:37:18.791 --> 00:37:20.875
Actually, I don\'t buy that.

00:37:20.875 --> 00:37:22.083
We see ourselves
as progressives,

00:37:22.083 --> 00:37:24.083
but in a kind of
managerial position.

00:37:24.083 --> 00:37:27.708
And we\'re governed
by the systemic parameters.

00:37:27.708 --> 00:37:30.458
And when spaces open up,
we take the opportunities.

00:37:30.458 --> 00:37:33.125
And when systemic parameters
opened up

00:37:33.125 --> 00:37:34.916
after Wednesday morning,

00:37:34.916 --> 00:37:36.999
hey, you take the gap.

00:37:36.999 --> 00:37:38.666
It\'s not flip-flop,
it\'s understanding

00:37:38.666 --> 00:37:41.000
our social struggle,
our works,

00:37:41.000 --> 00:37:44.416
and to actually engage
in what I call

00:37:44.416 --> 00:37:47.625
a structural
transformative struggle.

00:37:47.625 --> 00:37:53.875
♪

00:37:53.875 --> 00:37:56.666
(chanting, singing)

00:37:56.666 --> 00:37:59.083
♪

00:38:12.041 --> 00:38:13.666
We agreed...

00:38:13.666 --> 00:38:17.833
...that there will be
a zero increase

00:38:17.833 --> 00:38:23.208
of university fees in 2016.

00:38:33.583 --> 00:38:37.041
...to come and address
them on the lawns.

00:38:38.000 --> 00:38:39.458
(explosions)

00:38:39.458 --> 00:38:49.791
♪

00:38:49.791 --> 00:38:50.541
I\'m the soldier, brother.

00:38:50.541 --> 00:38:53.750
-You\'re a solider.
-I\'m a solider, brother.

00:38:53.750 --> 00:39:03.999
♪

00:39:05.583 --> 00:39:07.708
(chanting \"No violence!\")

00:39:07.708 --> 00:39:10.208
♪

00:39:10.208 --> 00:39:12.875
(commotion)

00:39:12.875 --> 00:39:15.041
♪

00:39:37.750 --> 00:39:43.125
♪

00:39:43.125 --> 00:39:45.166
We, as Wits,
when we got there,

00:39:45.166 --> 00:39:45.875
we saw flames.

00:39:45.875 --> 00:39:49.500
We, as leaders, felt that
it would be irresponsible

00:39:49.500 --> 00:39:52.125
to take students inside.

00:39:52.125 --> 00:39:52.999
♪

00:39:52.999 --> 00:39:54.500
The fire that
we saw showed us

00:39:54.500 --> 00:39:56.083
that we weren\'t
exactly as united

00:39:56.083 --> 00:39:58.708
and as on the same page
as we thought we were.

00:39:58.708 --> 00:40:03.416
What we saw as like kind of
middle class activists

00:40:03.416 --> 00:40:05.291
was these guys
taking the cops on

00:40:05.291 --> 00:40:08.541
and wanting to storm
the Union Building.

00:40:08.541 --> 00:40:09.291
♪

00:40:09.291 --> 00:40:12.500
These are students from
poor black high education

00:40:12.500 --> 00:40:14.791
institutions who\'ve,
in fact, been struggling

00:40:14.791 --> 00:40:17.166
around exclusion
for a long time.

00:40:17.166 --> 00:40:17.708
♪

00:40:17.708 --> 00:40:19.416
No amount
of stun grenade

00:40:19.416 --> 00:40:21.875
will ever make us
deterred from this.

00:40:21.875 --> 00:40:22.708
(explosions)

00:40:22.708 --> 00:40:26.333
No one can stop an idea
whose time has come.

00:40:26.333 --> 00:40:27.958
The community
were inside Wits

00:40:27.958 --> 00:40:30.083
marching politely
on the outside.

00:40:30.083 --> 00:40:33.375
And when Wits students
wanted to jump on the bus,

00:40:33.375 --> 00:40:35.000
some of these
other students went there

00:40:35.000 --> 00:40:37.875
and wanted to attack them
and say,

00:40:37.875 --> 00:40:39.041
\"This is how
you guys go back

00:40:39.041 --> 00:40:41.166
to your historically
white institutions

00:40:41.166 --> 00:40:43.166
and settle for naught percent
and everything\'s okay.

00:40:43.166 --> 00:40:45.666
We can\'t do that, we\'re
gonna be excluded next year

00:40:45.666 --> 00:40:48.250
because we can\'t afford
even the naught percent.\"

00:40:48.250 --> 00:40:51.041
(chanting, singing)

00:40:51.041 --> 00:40:55.083
♪

00:40:55.083 --> 00:40:57.999
There\'s nothing more
violent than poverty,

00:40:57.999 --> 00:41:00.458
and we come from
poverty-stricken homes,

00:41:00.458 --> 00:41:05.166
and that is why we are
fighting for free education.

00:41:05.416 --> 00:41:07.416
We say it like,
\"Oh, we will not retreat,

00:41:07.416 --> 00:41:10.875
we will not surrender,\"
as if it\'s a choice.

00:41:10.875 --> 00:41:14.541
But it really isn\'t,
because if you do retreat,

00:41:14.541 --> 00:41:16.833
what are you left with?

00:41:16.833 --> 00:41:24.791
♪

00:41:31.791 --> 00:41:34.958
There\'s a meeting
where people from the ANC

00:41:34.958 --> 00:41:38.833
come and meet with
the student representatives.

00:41:38.833 --> 00:41:42.458
As the story goes,
there\'s a strong insistence

00:41:42.458 --> 00:41:45.541
that the students must
now go back to class.

00:41:45.541 --> 00:41:48.000
The president has spoken,
the zero percent is there,

00:41:48.000 --> 00:41:52.041
and therefore people must stop
shutting down universities.

00:41:52.041 --> 00:41:56.208
And this is where
quite a big rupture happens.

00:41:56.750 --> 00:41:57.500
Before we know it,

00:41:57.500 --> 00:41:59.083
there were
a whole lot of students

00:41:59.083 --> 00:42:00.916
who\'d come into the area

00:42:00.916 --> 00:42:02.583
accusing myself
and Nompendulo

00:42:02.583 --> 00:42:03.833
of selling
the movement out

00:42:03.833 --> 00:42:06.000
and having this meeting
behind closed doors.

00:42:06.000 --> 00:42:08.583
The whole story was
that we had been bribed

00:42:08.583 --> 00:42:11.208
to effectively say
that we don\'t want

00:42:11.208 --> 00:42:14.458
the protest to continue
and to go back to class.

00:42:14.458 --> 00:42:18.083
That created
a lot of division.

00:42:18.083 --> 00:42:25.625
♪

00:42:25.625 --> 00:42:29.583
It was a very, very difficult
point in the movement

00:42:29.583 --> 00:42:33.875
because there were clear reasons
why we had to continue,

00:42:33.875 --> 00:42:38.541
and then there was
just not enough momentum

00:42:38.541 --> 00:42:40.833
and not enough energy.

00:42:40.833 --> 00:42:41.666
♪

00:42:41.666 --> 00:42:43.125
Most of the student movement

00:42:43.125 --> 00:42:43.999
wanted to return now.

00:42:43.999 --> 00:42:46.708
Exams are on,
they were under pressure.

00:42:46.708 --> 00:42:51.291
It seemed like a group
of students decided to go on.

00:42:51.291 --> 00:42:54.166
(commotion)

00:42:58.500 --> 00:43:02.125
(chanting \"Open the door!\")

00:43:07.000 --> 00:43:08.291
The students
want to come in,

00:43:08.291 --> 00:43:09.458
they should be able to come in,

00:43:09.458 --> 00:43:11.166
it\'s their assembly.

00:43:11.166 --> 00:43:14.041
(commotion)

00:43:17.125 --> 00:43:18.791
You did!
You don\'t put your hands

00:43:18.791 --> 00:43:20.375
on someone\'s neck like that.

00:43:20.375 --> 00:43:22.541
So don\'t choke someone!

00:43:25.750 --> 00:43:28.958
(chanting \"Open the door!\")

00:43:34.291 --> 00:43:37.125
(cheering)

00:43:47.541 --> 00:43:49.041
They all left in fear,

00:43:49.041 --> 00:43:50.791
and the vice chancellor,
to his credit,

00:43:50.791 --> 00:43:54.875
sat in the chair and the few
of us stayed then.

00:44:00.375 --> 00:44:03.208
(applause)

00:44:10.541 --> 00:44:13.291
If you could achieve
the zero percent

00:44:13.291 --> 00:44:14.666
fee increment in one week,

00:44:14.666 --> 00:44:16.666
maybe if we can
push for longer

00:44:16.666 --> 00:44:18.291
we can achieve more.

00:44:18.916 --> 00:44:19.958
We have the university

00:44:19.958 --> 00:44:21.375
by the scruff of the neck.

00:44:21.375 --> 00:44:23.666
Why do we
release it now

00:44:23.666 --> 00:44:27.333
when we can squeeze
more out of it?

00:44:28.708 --> 00:44:33.291
Number was less, significantly
less than it was before,

00:44:33.291 --> 00:44:35.166
but the workers
were still there

00:44:35.166 --> 00:44:37.125
in the original number
that they were in,

00:44:37.125 --> 00:44:40.375
so it was very difficult
to look workers in the eye

00:44:40.375 --> 00:44:40.916
and say to them,

00:44:40.916 --> 00:44:44.833
\"We are done,
we\'ll see your issue later.\"

00:44:45.583 --> 00:44:51.958
♪

00:44:51.958 --> 00:44:53.166
You\'ve gotta understand,

00:44:53.166 --> 00:44:55.916
last night there
were cars burnt down.

00:44:55.916 --> 00:44:57.458
I\'m not saying
anybody here it,

00:44:57.458 --> 00:44:59.999
I\'m just saying there
were cars burnt down.

00:44:59.999 --> 00:45:02.208
There was fire
around the place.

00:45:02.208 --> 00:45:05.333
There were people physically
removed from classes today.

00:45:05.333 --> 00:45:07.750
I can\'t carry on like this,
I have to go back,

00:45:07.750 --> 00:45:10.250
I want to speak to the council
and tell them,

00:45:10.250 --> 00:45:14.125
\"You asked me to communicate,
I\'m happy to communicate.\"

00:45:14.125 --> 00:45:15.958
-Kind of crazy.
-Mm-hm.

00:45:15.958 --> 00:45:17.916
-You\'re looking good.
-Well, I don\'t feel it.

00:45:17.916 --> 00:45:20.708
This office is much better
than your last.

00:45:20.708 --> 00:45:22.416
Yeah, but I\'m tired.

00:45:22.999 --> 00:45:25.875
(commotion)

00:45:43.208 --> 00:45:45.833
I wish I could say yes
immediately,

00:45:45.833 --> 00:45:48.041
but my--I would be
in violation of my mandate,

00:45:48.041 --> 00:45:49.833
I would--I have
to understand

00:45:49.833 --> 00:45:52.666
the financial implications
of the decision.

00:45:52.666 --> 00:45:53.916
I cannot make
a decision now

00:45:53.916 --> 00:45:56.041
and declare bankruptcy
three months later.

00:45:56.041 --> 00:45:58.291
That would be irresponsible.

00:46:00.791 --> 00:46:01.875
I went to
a black primary school.

00:46:01.875 --> 00:46:05.375
I had never interacted
with white people in my life.

00:46:05.375 --> 00:46:07.541
It\'s only when I went
to St. David\'s,

00:46:07.541 --> 00:46:10.458
which is a predominantly
white school.

00:46:10.458 --> 00:46:13.291
People my age
are being driven to school

00:46:13.291 --> 00:46:14.375
who live, you know,

00:46:14.375 --> 00:46:16.708
no less than five minutes
away from school,

00:46:16.708 --> 00:46:20.500
and I--I was coming from--
from Soweto to Sandton

00:46:20.500 --> 00:46:23.791
and had to wake up
at 5:00 in the morning.

00:46:24.750 --> 00:46:27.458
The story of--
of overcoming for me

00:46:27.458 --> 00:46:32.541
was only the--the story
about justice.

00:46:32.958 --> 00:46:35.583
And also the story about,
you know,

00:46:35.583 --> 00:46:37.958
struggle and becoming,

00:46:37.958 --> 00:46:39.708
you know, was always there.

00:46:39.708 --> 00:46:41.708
So the revolution
for me was there.

00:46:41.708 --> 00:46:44.541
(indistinct speaking)

00:46:44.541 --> 00:46:48.416
♪

00:46:48.416 --> 00:46:50.500
Okay, (unintelligible).

00:46:50.500 --> 00:46:52.291
♪

00:46:52.291 --> 00:46:54.125
Any student there?

00:46:54.125 --> 00:46:55.125
♪

00:46:55.125 --> 00:46:56.041
(unintelligible)

00:46:56.041 --> 00:46:57.041
Professor (unintelligible),

00:46:57.041 --> 00:47:01.083
the university,
and the negotiators

00:47:01.083 --> 00:47:06.583
have agreed
on the anti-black nature

00:47:06.583 --> 00:47:08.208
of outsourcing.

00:47:08.208 --> 00:47:08.625
♪

00:47:08.625 --> 00:47:12.500
And so the university
has agreed with us,

00:47:12.500 --> 00:47:16.041
in principle,
on insourcing.

00:47:16.041 --> 00:47:18.666
(cheering)

00:47:18.666 --> 00:47:28.916
♪

00:47:35.750 --> 00:47:37.708
If you think
universities and education

00:47:37.708 --> 00:47:40.958
is able to transform,
radically, society,

00:47:40.958 --> 00:47:43.791
what is the primary resource
of a university?

00:47:43.791 --> 00:47:48.333
It\'s not the papers that get
lodged in academic journals.

00:47:48.333 --> 00:47:50.041
It\'s the young people,
the young minds

00:47:50.041 --> 00:47:52.958
that come through
an institution.

00:47:52.958 --> 00:47:53.875
♪

00:47:53.875 --> 00:47:57.458
This has been a system
that has really taught

00:47:57.458 --> 00:47:58.458
almost a hidden curriculum

00:47:58.458 --> 00:48:00.833
to everyone who comes
through a university

00:48:00.833 --> 00:48:03.583
that it\'s okay to treat
poor black people

00:48:03.583 --> 00:48:05.083
as if they are subhuman.

00:48:05.083 --> 00:48:06.000
We\'d managed, you know,

00:48:06.000 --> 00:48:08.666
to show that if we\'re united

00:48:08.666 --> 00:48:09.541
and if we\'re mobilized,

00:48:09.541 --> 00:48:11.541
we actually have
a very strong voice

00:48:11.541 --> 00:48:12.666
and we have
a very strong influence

00:48:12.666 --> 00:48:15.291
over what happens
at our universities

00:48:15.291 --> 00:48:17.708
and even in broader society.

00:48:18.083 --> 00:48:19.875
We have to find
the money now.

00:48:19.875 --> 00:48:20.916
I phoned the state,

00:48:20.916 --> 00:48:23.458
the state made very clear
there\'s no support,

00:48:23.458 --> 00:48:28.375
which means we have
to find 150 million rand.

00:48:28.375 --> 00:48:31.208
150 million,
you can do once.

00:48:31.208 --> 00:48:33.291
You can\'t do it again.

00:48:33.291 --> 00:48:36.041
And if you implode
this institution,

00:48:36.041 --> 00:48:38.500
you break
the institutional mechanism

00:48:38.500 --> 00:48:41.541
that can address inequality
in this society.

00:48:41.541 --> 00:48:44.458
(chatter)

00:48:44.458 --> 00:48:46.541
Let\'s do our research
and then workers

00:48:46.541 --> 00:48:47.791
will sit and decide what\'s...

00:48:47.791 --> 00:48:51.291
It planted the seeds of
a different kind of politics.

00:48:51.291 --> 00:48:54.166
Our responsibility
should be to help them

00:48:54.166 --> 00:48:56.541
to kind of water those seeds,

00:48:56.541 --> 00:48:57.833
nurture those seeds.

00:48:57.833 --> 00:49:00.500
Unfortunately, the response
of the authorities,

00:49:00.500 --> 00:49:03.166
both the state and
the university authorities,

00:49:03.166 --> 00:49:06.750
has been to smash all of it,
try and clamp it down.

00:49:06.750 --> 00:49:13.250
♪

00:49:13.250 --> 00:49:15.291
What the state did,
and the university

00:49:15.291 --> 00:49:16.750
administrations
in general,

00:49:16.750 --> 00:49:20.750
from late 2015
they began to prepare for 2016.

00:49:20.750 --> 00:49:21.125
♪

00:49:21.125 --> 00:49:23.458
When protests happened
at the beginning of 2016,

00:49:23.458 --> 00:49:28.166
immediately the campuses were
flooded with private security.

00:49:28.166 --> 00:49:31.125
When I brought
in the private security,

00:49:31.125 --> 00:49:33.625
instruction is no guns,

00:49:33.625 --> 00:49:34.625
no pepper spray.

00:49:34.625 --> 00:49:37.083
You can have riot shields,
but you can\'t have

00:49:37.083 --> 00:49:39.958
weapons of aggression,
if you like.

00:49:39.958 --> 00:49:42.541
That\'s strict controls.

00:49:46.458 --> 00:49:48.375
It was a ridiculous amount
of effort

00:49:48.375 --> 00:49:53.125
to ensure that students didn\'t
have safe places to meet.

00:49:53.125 --> 00:49:56.125
It was about killing
the movement.

00:49:56.125 --> 00:49:57.875
(chanting, singing)

00:49:57.875 --> 00:50:08.083
♪

00:50:11.291 --> 00:50:11.958
(shouting)

00:50:11.958 --> 00:50:13.250
We felt so sorry
for the student,

00:50:13.250 --> 00:50:16.375
because you were not allowed
to be in groups.

00:50:16.375 --> 00:50:18.458
As soon as they were
seen in groups,

00:50:18.458 --> 00:50:20.666
they were intimidated.

00:50:21.000 --> 00:50:23.833
(chanting, singing)

00:50:23.833 --> 00:50:27.958
♪

00:50:27.958 --> 00:50:29.375
The university space,

00:50:29.375 --> 00:50:31.458
as a space of intellectual--

00:50:31.458 --> 00:50:33.333
robust intellectual
encouragement

00:50:33.333 --> 00:50:36.750
of open democratic
discussion, debate,

00:50:36.750 --> 00:50:38.500
needs to be protected.

00:50:38.500 --> 00:50:41.083
Protest must be seen
as part of,

00:50:41.083 --> 00:50:43.083
in my view,
the learning exercise,

00:50:43.083 --> 00:50:47.833
must be seen as part
of what students engage with.

00:50:47.833 --> 00:50:50.083
♪

00:50:50.083 --> 00:50:51.791
Because there was
no occupation,

00:50:51.791 --> 00:50:57.291
we didn\'t have the time
to iron out a lot of issues

00:50:57.291 --> 00:50:59.708
and really deal
with the heart

00:50:59.708 --> 00:51:02.083
of what we were
fighting for.

00:51:02.083 --> 00:51:05.958
♪

00:51:05.958 --> 00:51:08.375
We ended up fighting
a lot in meetings,

00:51:08.375 --> 00:51:11.000
and obviously the loud
and prominent voices

00:51:11.000 --> 00:51:13.625
would be the ones
that are heard.

00:51:13.625 --> 00:51:14.625
♪

00:51:14.625 --> 00:51:16.541
When we spoke as women,

00:51:16.541 --> 00:51:19.583
you could tell
by their body language,

00:51:19.583 --> 00:51:20.999
it\'s like they get bored.

00:51:20.999 --> 00:51:24.583
Up until one person
stands up and says,

00:51:24.583 --> 00:51:28.458
\"You know what,
we will not be led by women,

00:51:28.458 --> 00:51:31.291
and we will not be led
by gay people,

00:51:31.291 --> 00:51:33.000
\'cause this thing
of gayness,

00:51:33.000 --> 00:51:37.375
it was started by the Greeks
when they were bored.\"

00:51:37.375 --> 00:51:43.958
♪

00:51:43.958 --> 00:51:46.750
(chanting)

00:51:48.458 --> 00:51:50.125
So 4th of April happens

00:51:50.125 --> 00:51:53.333
after there is this history.

00:51:53.791 --> 00:51:54.999
The sjamboks was a way,

00:51:54.999 --> 00:51:59.166
number one,
of resisting and revolting,

00:51:59.166 --> 00:52:00.125
but then it was also a way

00:52:00.125 --> 00:52:01.791
of saying that
we are tired of being

00:52:01.791 --> 00:52:03.958
those vulnerable,
fragile people.

00:52:03.958 --> 00:52:05.791
We will stand up
for ourselves

00:52:05.791 --> 00:52:07.833
and we will fight.

00:52:15.166 --> 00:52:17.458
The makeup of the movement
is as important

00:52:17.458 --> 00:52:19.833
as the outcomes
of the movement,

00:52:19.833 --> 00:52:22.541
because who makes up
the movement

00:52:22.541 --> 00:52:26.333
translates into what
the movement becomes.

00:52:26.333 --> 00:52:36.583
♪

00:52:59.000 --> 00:53:01.041
Some of the complications
is when you try to hold

00:53:01.041 --> 00:53:04.125
a BC agenda,
black consciousness agenda,

00:53:04.125 --> 00:53:07.708
with its kind of history
of masculinity and misogyny,

00:53:07.708 --> 00:53:10.416
it\'s really difficult to hold
that with intersectionality

00:53:10.416 --> 00:53:13.458
or the idea that
patriarchy must fall too.

00:53:13.458 --> 00:53:16.541
We\'ve had many conversations
with our comrades

00:53:16.541 --> 00:53:17.791
where--where they\'re saying,

00:53:17.791 --> 00:53:19.958
\"But how can you take
patriarchy away from us?

00:53:19.958 --> 00:53:21.458
This is the one thing
we have,

00:53:21.458 --> 00:53:22.750
and now you\'re
coming to say

00:53:22.750 --> 00:53:23.833
we must change ourselves.

00:53:23.833 --> 00:53:24.833
What do you mean?\"

00:53:24.833 --> 00:53:26.999
We still view
male leadership

00:53:26.999 --> 00:53:27.999
as the only leadership.

00:53:27.999 --> 00:53:31.458
Even when we had
women leading,

00:53:31.458 --> 00:53:34.125
it was not enough
until the male spoke.

00:53:34.125 --> 00:53:36.000
So that is the reality.

00:53:36.000 --> 00:53:36.791
♪

00:53:36.791 --> 00:53:39.375
No one must
pronounce in our name

00:53:39.375 --> 00:53:41.750
that women can\'t lead.

00:53:41.750 --> 00:53:43.333
No one must pronounce
in our name

00:53:43.333 --> 00:53:46.000
that queer people
cannot be here.

00:53:46.000 --> 00:53:48.625
There is no membership
to the struggle.

00:53:48.625 --> 00:53:52.291
Even as I want
free education,

00:53:52.291 --> 00:53:55.291
I carry a lot already.

00:53:55.291 --> 00:53:59.708
And I cannot say, okay, let us
focus on free education now,

00:53:59.708 --> 00:54:03.666
and we\'ll focus on me
being a woman later.

00:54:03.666 --> 00:54:09.916
So, fallism is about all forms
or symbols of oppression,

00:54:09.916 --> 00:54:12.000
you know, falling,
all of them must fall,

00:54:12.000 --> 00:54:14.125
there must be none
that is left.

00:54:14.125 --> 00:54:14.916
(unintelligible)

00:54:14.916 --> 00:54:17.458
...all women must be
in the front.

00:54:17.458 --> 00:54:19.416
(singing)

00:54:19.416 --> 00:54:29.666
♪

00:54:36.208 --> 00:54:37.291
Students at Wits University

00:54:37.291 --> 00:54:38.458
gathered
at the admin buildings

00:54:38.458 --> 00:54:41.041
to hear Minister of Higher
Education, Blade Nzimande,

00:54:41.041 --> 00:54:44.541
deliver his cabinet\'s decision
on student fees.

00:54:44.541 --> 00:54:46.750
We have looked
at the challenges at hand

00:54:46.750 --> 00:54:48.291
from all sides

00:54:48.291 --> 00:54:51.208
and have concluded
that the best approach

00:54:51.208 --> 00:54:53.833
would be to allow
universities individually

00:54:53.833 --> 00:54:56.250
to determine
the level of increase

00:54:56.250 --> 00:54:58.250
that their institutions
will require

00:54:58.250 --> 00:55:01.791
to ensure that they continue
to operate effectively.

00:55:01.791 --> 00:55:06.000
The fee adjustment should
not go above eight percent.

00:55:06.000 --> 00:55:07.416
What do we want?

00:55:07.416 --> 00:55:08.875
It\'s simple.

00:55:08.875 --> 00:55:10.750
Ours is free education.

00:55:10.750 --> 00:55:11.791
(cheering)

00:55:11.791 --> 00:55:15.583
Now, not when, now.

00:55:15.583 --> 00:55:16.291
So, comrades,

00:55:16.291 --> 00:55:18.958
let\'s go to (unintelligible)

00:55:18.958 --> 00:55:20.583
by shutting down...

00:55:20.583 --> 00:55:23.166
(cheering)

00:55:23.166 --> 00:55:27.041
♪

00:55:27.041 --> 00:55:29.500
They will try to call us
all sorts of names,

00:55:29.500 --> 00:55:32.041
but we\'re just children
wanting two things:

00:55:32.041 --> 00:55:35.583
To let the oppressive system
deal with us.

00:55:35.583 --> 00:55:42.416
♪

00:55:42.416 --> 00:55:46.041
Several university campuses
have been shut down

00:55:46.041 --> 00:55:46.999
following
the announcement

00:55:46.999 --> 00:55:50.958
by Higher Education Minister
Blade Nzimande.

00:55:50.958 --> 00:56:00.125
♪

00:56:00.125 --> 00:56:02.083
Students made their way
up to Senate House.

00:56:02.083 --> 00:56:05.666
They were blocked from entering
by private security.

00:56:05.666 --> 00:56:08.750
(indistinct shouting)

00:56:09.333 --> 00:56:11.666
The university came
with private security

00:56:11.666 --> 00:56:13.625
and chased us out of
(unintelligible) House.

00:56:13.625 --> 00:56:16.999
And we returned,
and it was a constant struggle

00:56:16.999 --> 00:56:20.416
to try and hold the ground,
hold the fort.

00:56:20.416 --> 00:56:23.833
(indistinct shouting)

00:56:31.208 --> 00:56:32.000
Lectures cancelled,

00:56:32.000 --> 00:56:34.250
no classes till
the end of the week,

00:56:34.250 --> 00:56:36.791
exams coming up shortly.

00:56:36.791 --> 00:56:38.999
(hissing)

00:56:38.999 --> 00:56:42.000
(indistinct yelling)

00:56:44.958 --> 00:56:48.000
The call for
a permanent shutdown.

00:56:48.000 --> 00:56:50.791
The permanent
shutdown sacrifices

00:56:50.791 --> 00:56:54.708
the qualifications
of 36,000 students,

00:56:54.708 --> 00:56:56.291
80 percent of whom are black,

00:56:56.291 --> 00:56:57.791
30 percent of whom are poor.

00:56:57.791 --> 00:56:58.916
When these kids don\'t qualify,

00:56:58.916 --> 00:57:02.333
their brothers and sisters are
not able to go to education.

00:57:02.333 --> 00:57:04.250
That\'s what\'s in the book.

00:57:04.250 --> 00:57:07.291
(indistinct remarks)

00:57:09.583 --> 00:57:11.166
There was a view
that the movement

00:57:11.166 --> 00:57:12.833
had sort of lost its way.

00:57:12.833 --> 00:57:16.333
This perspective that this group
of students are nihilistic,

00:57:16.333 --> 00:57:18.750
which if you really sit
and think about it, is absurd,

00:57:18.750 --> 00:57:22.500
because why would people
be asking for free education

00:57:22.500 --> 00:57:23.791
if they were nihilistic?

00:57:23.791 --> 00:57:26.666
This narrative in the media
that students

00:57:26.666 --> 00:57:30.333
are only interested
in burning down buildings

00:57:30.333 --> 00:57:31.708
is a false narrative.

00:57:31.708 --> 00:57:34.541
(cheering)

00:57:34.958 --> 00:57:36.958
Education is not a privilege.

00:57:36.958 --> 00:57:41.041
On the radio, you hear
education\'s a privilege.

00:57:41.041 --> 00:57:42.333
It\'s not.

00:57:42.333 --> 00:57:43.875
Education is a right.

00:57:43.875 --> 00:57:46.541
Academics are standing up
and saying,

00:57:46.541 --> 00:57:48.041
\"We must protect education,

00:57:48.041 --> 00:57:51.750
higher education
and basic education,

00:57:51.750 --> 00:57:53.583
as a public good.\"

00:57:55.500 --> 00:57:58.583
How do we attain free education?

00:57:58.583 --> 00:58:00.500
It means having a conversation

00:58:00.500 --> 00:58:04.833
about what our priorities are
as a society.

00:58:04.833 --> 00:58:08.708
Is it increase
the militarization?

00:58:08.708 --> 00:58:13.125
Or is it the ability
for us to exist as equals,

00:58:13.125 --> 00:58:18.083
participate in the shaping
of society as equals,

00:58:18.083 --> 00:58:21.333
being able to have as members

00:58:21.333 --> 00:58:22.958
of a South African population

00:58:22.958 --> 00:58:26.750
the ability to realize
our dreams?

00:58:26.750 --> 00:58:36.625
♪

00:58:36.625 --> 00:58:39.125
And then when I inquired
about an arrested student,

00:58:39.125 --> 00:58:42.083
I then got arrested
for asking too many questions.

00:58:42.083 --> 00:58:43.999
We\'re gathering
the forum of lawyers

00:58:43.999 --> 00:58:48.666
that are going to intervene
not just here, but nationwide.

00:58:48.666 --> 00:58:51.083
(explosions rumbling)

00:58:51.083 --> 00:58:53.625
(indistinct remarks)

00:58:53.625 --> 00:58:55.125
Let\'s go!

00:58:55.125 --> 00:58:57.791
(crowd shouting)

00:58:57.791 --> 00:59:06.208
♪

00:59:06.208 --> 00:59:07.875
(indistinct remarks)

00:59:07.875 --> 00:59:11.250
Throw a rock again
and I\'ll shoot you!

00:59:13.333 --> 00:59:16.416
(indistinct shouting)

01:00:41.708 --> 01:00:44.791
(indistinct shouting)

01:00:53.875 --> 01:00:56.875
(gunshots firing)

01:01:02.708 --> 01:01:05.583
(indistinct yelling)

01:01:05.583 --> 01:01:08.333
(dog barking)

01:01:08.333 --> 01:01:11.083
No, no, no, no, no, no!

01:01:11.083 --> 01:01:12.958
(indistinct shouting)

01:01:12.958 --> 01:01:16.291
The situation that you create
is one of confrontation.

01:01:16.291 --> 01:01:19.375
You immediately escalate
the nature of the engagement

01:01:19.375 --> 01:01:23.583
between protestors and police
in a context

01:01:23.583 --> 01:01:25.333
where we know
that in South Africa,

01:01:25.333 --> 01:01:28.416
yes, we have a legitimate
government, but we do know

01:01:28.416 --> 01:01:31.125
that police have been
particularly violent

01:01:31.125 --> 01:01:34.250
against protesters
since the 1990s.

01:01:34.250 --> 01:01:36.250
There are ample examples
to show this.

01:01:36.250 --> 01:01:38.625
More people have died
in police custody

01:01:38.625 --> 01:01:43.250
in the post-\'94 period
than during apartheid.

01:01:43.250 --> 01:01:46.666
We\'re here to make sure
that black lives

01:01:46.666 --> 01:01:49.166
are not lost unnecessarily.

01:01:49.166 --> 01:01:52.125
If the police want to shoot
our children,

01:01:52.125 --> 01:01:54.291
then they must shoot us first.

01:01:54.291 --> 01:01:55.208
Fire, fire!

01:01:55.208 --> 01:01:58.583
I was the president of the
Black Student Society here

01:01:58.583 --> 01:02:02.541
in 1985 and \'86,
and we were doing exactly

01:02:02.541 --> 01:02:06.666
what you are doing
against the apartheid regime.

01:02:06.666 --> 01:02:09.458
(indistinct singing)

01:02:09.458 --> 01:02:22.375
♪

01:02:22.375 --> 01:02:25.000
(sirens wailing)

01:02:25.000 --> 01:02:30.500
♪

01:02:30.500 --> 01:02:32.541
Stop shooting at us.

01:02:32.541 --> 01:02:35.083
Stop shooting at us!

01:02:35.083 --> 01:02:37.916
(indistinct remarks)

01:02:37.916 --> 01:02:52.875
♪

01:02:52.875 --> 01:02:55.666
(indistinct singing)

01:02:55.666 --> 01:03:01.000
♪

01:03:01.000 --> 01:03:03.916
The honeymoon phase
of Fees Must Fall

01:03:03.916 --> 01:03:05.083
had really phased off.

01:03:05.083 --> 01:03:08.708
And now we\'re dealing
with a protest

01:03:08.708 --> 01:03:10.416
in the realer sense of the word,

01:03:10.416 --> 01:03:14.291
where there was a real threat
of arrest,

01:03:14.291 --> 01:03:16.416
a real threat
of you losing your eye,

01:03:16.416 --> 01:03:19.500
or a real threat of the police
going bizarre

01:03:19.500 --> 01:03:21.083
and just shooting at people,

01:03:21.083 --> 01:03:22.625
even with live ammunition.

01:03:22.625 --> 01:03:24.791
(indistinct chatter)

01:03:24.791 --> 01:03:28.208
We need to be very clear as well
that teaching and learning

01:03:28.208 --> 01:03:33.583
cannot take place
in a securitized environment.

01:03:33.791 --> 01:03:36.208
We see levels
of violence emerging

01:03:36.208 --> 01:03:38.583
from private security
and police.

01:03:38.583 --> 01:03:42.166
So, this turn to instilling fear

01:03:42.166 --> 01:03:45.916
is something that contributes
over the long-term

01:03:45.916 --> 01:03:47.583
to a demobilization.

01:03:47.583 --> 01:03:49.416
We\'re not protesting
Fees Must Fall.

01:03:49.416 --> 01:03:50.708
We\'re not undermining
the movement.

01:03:50.708 --> 01:03:52.041
We support it, we just
don\'t want the violence.

01:03:52.041 --> 01:03:55.708
-Then why don\'t you come to--
-...belong to the SRC.

01:03:55.708 --> 01:03:58.250
That belongs to those
who started in this.

01:03:58.250 --> 01:04:00.125
We are all pieces,
we all have the right to--

01:04:00.125 --> 01:04:03.041
-Where were you yesterday?
-I\'m talking to you.

01:04:03.041 --> 01:04:05.958
(mixed shouting)

01:04:10.833 --> 01:04:14.125
At maximum,
the protest has 700.

01:04:14.125 --> 01:04:16.666
This is not my number,
it\'s Fees Must Fall numbers.

01:04:16.666 --> 01:04:21.291
Compared to what existed
in October--it was thousands.

01:04:21.291 --> 01:04:22.708
The questions is, what do we do?

01:04:22.708 --> 01:04:25.666
(singing in foreign language)

01:04:25.666 --> 01:04:29.250
♪

01:04:29.250 --> 01:04:32.958
Well, let\'s do it,
let\'s call a poll.

01:04:32.958 --> 01:04:35.750
The poll quizzed students
on whether or not

01:04:35.750 --> 01:04:39.916
they wanted the university
to open next week.

01:04:39.916 --> 01:04:43.083
Of 21,730 responses,

01:04:43.083 --> 01:04:46.250
77 percent voted
to go back to class

01:04:46.250 --> 01:04:48.833
while 23 percent
voted otherwise.

01:04:48.833 --> 01:04:52.500
Most students said,
\"We support Fees Must Fall,

01:04:52.500 --> 01:04:56.500
but we do not want
to sacrifice our futures.\"

01:04:56.500 --> 01:04:58.166
Most students said,

01:04:58.166 --> 01:05:01.458
\"Actually, we do not believe
in a slogan

01:05:01.458 --> 01:05:06.708
that says, \'No free education,
no education at all.\'\"

01:05:06.708 --> 01:05:14.291
♪

01:05:14.291 --> 01:05:16.166
We had decided that

01:05:16.166 --> 01:05:19.500
a very significant move forward

01:05:19.500 --> 01:05:22.541
would be to get the university

01:05:22.541 --> 01:05:24.875
to publically say

01:05:24.875 --> 01:05:26.041
that they support free education

01:05:26.041 --> 01:05:28.500
and they are willing
to do what it takes

01:05:28.500 --> 01:05:31.166
with students to hold
the state accountable.

01:05:31.166 --> 01:05:34.500
They meet the students, they
meet us, they meet the students.

01:05:34.500 --> 01:05:37.708
We develop a pledge
where we would support

01:05:37.708 --> 01:05:39.416
the goal of free education.

01:05:39.416 --> 01:05:41.500
Then we asked,
\"Well, will you march with us?\"

01:05:41.500 --> 01:05:44.083
I go to the Senate and Council,
and I say,

01:05:44.083 --> 01:05:45.458
\"Will you walk--march with me?\"

01:05:45.458 --> 01:05:47.166
The Senate and Council
agree to that.

01:05:47.166 --> 01:05:50.666
Senate and Council agrees
to the goal of free education.

01:05:50.666 --> 01:05:53.875
We say we have a general
assembly, they agree to that.

01:05:53.875 --> 01:05:55.541
We were gonna go for this
general assembly,

01:05:55.541 --> 01:05:56.999
have the (unintelligible),
have whatever,

01:05:56.999 --> 01:05:59.083
but ultimately,
march to treasury,

01:05:59.083 --> 01:06:00.791
march to the presidency,

01:06:00.791 --> 01:06:03.999
and have, have that bridge

01:06:03.999 --> 01:06:06.625
between fighting
at a university level

01:06:06.625 --> 01:06:09.208
and fighting at a state level.

01:06:09.208 --> 01:06:14.375
♪

01:06:14.375 --> 01:06:17.833
The university was demanding
that if they were to come

01:06:17.833 --> 01:06:21.000
to the university assembly
and commit to this,

01:06:21.000 --> 01:06:23.583
that we would end the shutdown.

01:06:23.750 --> 01:06:26.000
Both the university and students
knew very well

01:06:26.000 --> 01:06:29.833
that immediately
when we opened our gates,

01:06:29.833 --> 01:06:31.291
when classes started properly,

01:06:31.291 --> 01:06:35.333
we would lose all bargaining
power with the state.

01:06:35.333 --> 01:06:40.083
♪

01:06:40.083 --> 01:06:43.250
It is with deep regret
that we announce

01:06:43.250 --> 01:06:46.083
the postponement
of the general assembly

01:06:46.083 --> 01:06:48.708
that was to be held today.

01:06:48.708 --> 01:06:51.000
The protesting students
effectively wanted

01:06:51.000 --> 01:06:54.166
the general assembly,
and they wanted the march

01:06:54.166 --> 01:06:56.791
to the constitutional court
to continue.

01:06:56.791 --> 01:07:00.916
But they refused to commit
that the academic program

01:07:00.916 --> 01:07:02.916
will commence on Monday

01:07:02.916 --> 01:07:05.375
as previously we had discussed.

01:07:05.375 --> 01:07:08.500
(singing in foreign language)

01:07:08.500 --> 01:07:11.041
♪

01:07:11.041 --> 01:07:13.875
(indistinct chatter)

01:07:13.875 --> 01:07:16.833
♪

01:07:16.833 --> 01:07:20.416
We\'re just trying to safely
evacuate them from the building.

01:07:20.416 --> 01:07:22.166
Invite them to come here,
confess with us,

01:07:22.166 --> 01:07:24.833
and dance and sing,
and do all these nice things.

01:07:24.833 --> 01:07:28.791
But we must make sure that
that building is regulated.

01:07:28.791 --> 01:07:32.666
(indistinct remarks)

01:07:32.666 --> 01:07:37.750
♪

01:07:37.750 --> 01:07:40.500
Did we think it was
gonna be rough? Yes.

01:07:40.500 --> 01:07:43.166
But what would you
rather have me do?

01:07:43.166 --> 01:07:44.625
Lose the academic year?

01:07:44.625 --> 01:07:48.708
So that\'s the question
that I was confronted with.

01:07:48.708 --> 01:07:54.291
♪

01:07:54.291 --> 01:07:57.333
They were saying to us,
\"We don\'t want to talk to you.

01:07:57.333 --> 01:08:00.583
We will send you,
you know, bullets.\"

01:08:00.583 --> 01:08:02.291
In other ways,
one could say that, you know,

01:08:02.291 --> 01:08:07.208
the university was basically
outsourcing its responsibility.

01:08:07.208 --> 01:08:10.291
(indistinct shouting)

01:08:11.583 --> 01:08:14.416
(cheering)

01:08:21.041 --> 01:08:26.000
Students have now
put their hands in the air,

01:08:26.000 --> 01:08:29.333
and are I guess
calling on police

01:08:29.333 --> 01:08:31.125
not to continue.

01:08:31.875 --> 01:08:34.125
(explosions)

01:08:34.125 --> 01:08:36.916
(gunshots firing)

01:08:36.916 --> 01:08:59.583
♪

01:08:59.583 --> 01:09:02.416
(indistinct shouting)

01:09:02.416 --> 01:09:06.833
♪

01:09:06.833 --> 01:09:10.875
Natasha,
what you\'re seeing right now

01:09:10.875 --> 01:09:13.041
is the police (unintelligible)

01:09:13.041 --> 01:09:14.916
trying to push...

01:09:14.916 --> 01:09:17.708
(indistinct yelling)

01:09:17.708 --> 01:09:19.750
♪

01:09:19.750 --> 01:09:23.250
Trying to disperse
the students there.

01:09:23.250 --> 01:09:26.291
(radio scanner chatter)

01:09:29.500 --> 01:09:32.125
(sirens wailing)

01:09:32.125 --> 01:09:43.666
♪

01:09:43.666 --> 01:09:45.875
(whistling)

01:09:45.875 --> 01:09:48.625
(indistinct shouting)

01:09:48.625 --> 01:09:51.083
(explosion rumbling)

01:09:51.083 --> 01:09:53.875
(gunshots firing)

01:09:53.875 --> 01:09:58.875
♪

01:09:58.875 --> 01:10:00.458
(radio scanner chatter)

01:10:00.458 --> 01:10:03.625
After running battles with
authorities on Wits campus,

01:10:03.625 --> 01:10:05.875
the students then
were pushed off

01:10:05.875 --> 01:10:08.041
onto the streets
of Braamdontein.

01:10:08.041 --> 01:10:10.333
(indistinct remarks)

01:10:10.333 --> 01:10:12.666
(gunshots firing)

01:10:12.666 --> 01:10:15.750
(indistinct shouting)

01:10:20.291 --> 01:10:23.041
Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa!

01:10:23.041 --> 01:10:27.458
♪

01:10:27.458 --> 01:10:29.833
(gunshots firing)

01:10:29.833 --> 01:10:32.625
(indistinct yelling)

01:10:32.625 --> 01:10:46.375
♪

01:11:13.875 --> 01:11:21.250
♪

01:11:21.250 --> 01:11:24.083
(indistinct shouting)

01:11:24.083 --> 01:11:34.333
♪

01:11:42.500 --> 01:11:46.291
There is absolutely no reason
for the kinds of sins

01:11:46.291 --> 01:11:49.333
that we\'re seeing at a place
like Wits University.

01:11:49.333 --> 01:11:51.750
In fact, we must characterize
that for what it is.

01:11:51.750 --> 01:11:54.958
When you are looking at the
throwing of stones and so on,

01:11:54.958 --> 01:11:56.750
that\'s vandalism, it\'s thuggery.

01:11:56.750 --> 01:12:00.333
It\'s something
that should have no place

01:12:00.333 --> 01:12:02.125
in a democratic South Africa,

01:12:02.125 --> 01:12:04.125
no matter what the issues are.

01:12:04.125 --> 01:12:07.208
President Jacob Zuma has set up
a ministerial task team

01:12:07.208 --> 01:12:11.875
to normalize the situation at
higher education institutions.

01:12:11.875 --> 01:12:15.000
(indistinct conversations)

01:12:19.625 --> 01:12:22.666
In 2016, we really could see
the connection

01:12:22.666 --> 01:12:26.666
between university managements
and government

01:12:26.666 --> 01:12:29.750
working together on this agenda

01:12:29.750 --> 01:12:32.750
to dehumanize students.

01:12:32.999 --> 01:12:36.375
This is an anti-ANC
government agenda

01:12:36.375 --> 01:12:40.125
by elements who could not
be able to win power

01:12:40.125 --> 01:12:43.416
through the ballot box and
they want to discredit the ANC.

01:12:43.416 --> 01:12:47.708
Then anti-left, old anti-left
elements, Trotskyites,

01:12:47.708 --> 01:12:51.500
who have never really had
political power in South Africa.

01:12:51.500 --> 01:12:53.041
Those people are very good.

01:12:53.041 --> 01:12:54.541
They know how to operate.

01:12:54.541 --> 01:12:58.291
They would not deposit money
into your account.

01:12:58.291 --> 01:13:01.708
They know how to bring cash
to you,

01:13:01.708 --> 01:13:02.791
but it\'s a responsibility

01:13:02.791 --> 01:13:05.875
of the department of state
security to deal with that.

01:13:05.875 --> 01:13:08.583
We had the ANC Youth League
national president,

01:13:08.583 --> 01:13:11.291
Collen Maine, make statements
to the extent

01:13:11.291 --> 01:13:14.999
that he said,
\"We who are still protesting

01:13:14.999 --> 01:13:18.083
are third forces,
we are terrorists,

01:13:18.083 --> 01:13:20.125
we don\'t know what we\'re doing,

01:13:20.125 --> 01:13:23.041
and we want to destroy
this country,\"

01:13:23.041 --> 01:13:26.666
and that is coming
from a radical

01:13:26.666 --> 01:13:29.750
or group that\'s supposed
to be radical.

01:13:29.750 --> 01:13:32.958
(indistinct chanting)

01:13:36.750 --> 01:13:39.833
(indistinct shouting)

01:14:01.208 --> 01:14:03.166
We shouldn\'t be surprised
that political parties

01:14:03.166 --> 01:14:05.166
have an interest,
of course they do.

01:14:05.166 --> 01:14:07.625
This was one of the most
important protests

01:14:07.625 --> 01:14:09.208
in the post-\'94 period.

01:14:09.208 --> 01:14:12.041
But to then suggest that
the student protest

01:14:12.041 --> 01:14:15.250
had been orchestrated
and controlled

01:14:15.250 --> 01:14:16.791
by an outside force,

01:14:16.791 --> 01:14:20.833
it\'s either
deliberately mischievous,

01:14:20.833 --> 01:14:24.583
or portrays a profound lack
of understanding

01:14:24.583 --> 01:14:26.500
of the student politics.

01:14:26.500 --> 01:14:29.500
(singing in foreign language)

01:14:29.500 --> 01:14:33.250
♪

01:14:33.250 --> 01:14:35.375
So they want to taint
the protest,

01:14:35.375 --> 01:14:37.666
criminalize us,
and only after that

01:14:37.666 --> 01:14:41.250
will they do anything with us,
and it will be justifiable,

01:14:41.250 --> 01:14:43.958
because we\'re criminals,
by the way.

01:14:45.500 --> 01:14:54.416
♪

01:14:54.416 --> 01:14:56.583
At every university,
no matter what time of day

01:14:56.583 --> 01:14:58.583
the strike was,
you were able to have

01:14:58.583 --> 01:15:01.000
an incident
within an hour and a half,

01:15:01.000 --> 01:15:03.708
with scopes that were so broad
that they would

01:15:03.708 --> 01:15:05.250
essentially ban protests.

01:15:05.250 --> 01:15:07.166
Student leader Mcebo Dlamini
struck fear

01:15:07.166 --> 01:15:09.458
in the (unintelligible)
Magistrate\'s court this morning

01:15:09.458 --> 01:15:11.791
in what police say was part
of an investigation

01:15:11.791 --> 01:15:15.500
into the intimidation and
violence that we\'ve seen.

01:15:15.500 --> 01:15:17.250
Mcebo Dlamini
has been denied bail

01:15:17.250 --> 01:15:19.208
by the Johannesburg
Magistrate\'s Court.

01:15:19.208 --> 01:15:22.166
Dlamini is facing charges
of malicious damage to property,

01:15:22.166 --> 01:15:26.250
theft, assault, and possession
of dangerous weapons.

01:15:26.250 --> 01:15:31.083
Political arrests are now being
used to kill the movement.

01:15:31.083 --> 01:15:37.541
♪

01:15:37.541 --> 01:15:40.666
We then have a situation where
the Minister of State Security,

01:15:40.666 --> 01:15:44.500
David Mahlobo, (unintelligible)
now trying to contact students.

01:15:44.500 --> 01:15:46.916
You know, at four o\'clock
in the morning

01:15:46.916 --> 01:15:50.083
you\'d have, you know, people
coming to you and saying,

01:15:50.083 --> 01:15:52.708
you know, \"The minister
wants to meet with you

01:15:52.708 --> 01:15:54.708
in Pretoria at his house.\"

01:15:54.708 --> 01:15:56.750
And it is then that we realized

01:15:56.750 --> 01:15:58.666
that actually
what we\'re dealing with

01:15:58.666 --> 01:16:01.958
is bigger than,
you know, our imagination.

01:16:01.958 --> 01:16:03.375
♪

01:16:03.375 --> 01:16:06.750
And now we knew that we\'re
really touching the nerve.

01:16:06.750 --> 01:16:08.791
And the only way
we could defend ourselves

01:16:08.791 --> 01:16:10.625
was to stay in the public eye.

01:16:10.625 --> 01:16:11.250
(crowd shouting)

01:16:11.250 --> 01:16:14.041
We must go back
to campus peacefully.

01:16:14.041 --> 01:16:16.000
No car is going to be harmed.

01:16:16.000 --> 01:16:18.416
No shop is going to be looted.

01:16:18.416 --> 01:16:19.125
Not in our name.

01:16:19.125 --> 01:16:23.083
Let us march, comrades,
peacefully.

01:16:23.500 --> 01:16:24.250
There\'s safety in numbers.

01:16:24.250 --> 01:16:26.583
As long as we\'re in public and
we\'re in numbers, we\'re safe,

01:16:26.583 --> 01:16:29.208
but there\'s definitely
a targeted attempt to get us.

01:16:29.208 --> 01:16:31.083
I mean, Mcebo\'s
sitting in prison.

01:16:31.083 --> 01:16:32.625
My colleagues
are sitting in hospital.

01:16:32.625 --> 01:16:35.541
Vuyani now has to go into
some form of hiding.

01:16:35.541 --> 01:16:38.541
(engines whirring)

01:16:41.416 --> 01:16:44.458
(indistinct remarks)

01:16:47.875 --> 01:16:51.000
Despite the moves towards

01:16:51.000 --> 01:16:53.666
having this shutdown continue,

01:16:53.666 --> 01:16:56.666
a lot of classes
were going ahead,

01:16:56.666 --> 01:16:58.666
and it made no sense that exams

01:16:58.666 --> 01:17:00.750
and normal academic
activities continue

01:17:00.750 --> 01:17:03.125
when people are in jail,
when people are in hospital,

01:17:03.125 --> 01:17:07.666
when the entire campus
is far from normal.

01:17:07.666 --> 01:17:08.458
There\'s police all over.

01:17:08.458 --> 01:17:10.999
There\'s police
in your exam room.

01:17:10.999 --> 01:17:12.333
There\'s police outside.

01:17:12.333 --> 01:17:15.291
(singing in foreign language)

01:17:15.291 --> 01:17:17.625
♪

01:17:17.625 --> 01:17:20.416
We are on the list,
there\'s no doubt about that.

01:17:20.416 --> 01:17:24.125
Um, but I always say
that I can\'t hide like a rat.

01:17:24.125 --> 01:17:26.500
We have to come out
and do what we have to do,

01:17:26.500 --> 01:17:29.166
be strategic, not be alone,

01:17:29.166 --> 01:17:29.958
be with students.

01:17:29.958 --> 01:17:33.791
That\'s our safest space,
but also, you know,

01:17:33.791 --> 01:17:35.000
if they\'re going
to come for you,

01:17:35.000 --> 01:17:36.291
they\'re going to come for you.

01:17:36.291 --> 01:17:39.666
(indistinct singing)

01:17:41.750 --> 01:17:45.958
We were walking to an open area
of grass,

01:17:45.958 --> 01:17:48.041
and along that walkway,

01:17:48.041 --> 01:17:51.583
that particular group of police

01:17:51.583 --> 01:17:55.166
had just kind of
popped out of nowhere.

01:17:55.166 --> 01:17:58.250
I tried to speak to the
police officer, and you know,

01:17:58.250 --> 01:17:59.958
me trying to have
an interaction with him.

01:17:59.958 --> 01:18:03.250
As I walked forward,
they formed into line,

01:18:03.250 --> 01:18:06.999
and already I was scared,
but I had to try

01:18:06.999 --> 01:18:09.125
and be very, you know, brave

01:18:09.125 --> 01:18:13.250
for the students
who were following us.

01:18:19.375 --> 01:18:22.375
(gunshots firing)

01:18:23.500 --> 01:18:26.583
(indistinct shouting)

01:18:27.250 --> 01:18:30.000
Information that student leader
Shaeera Kalla

01:18:30.000 --> 01:18:32.833
who is believed
to have been shot 10 times

01:18:32.833 --> 01:18:35.041
is still receiving treatment,

01:18:35.041 --> 01:18:38.291
and her wounds are being dressed
at this stage

01:18:38.291 --> 01:18:44.125
at the wellness center here
on the university\'s campus.

01:18:45.375 --> 01:18:46.833
Please help me.

01:18:46.833 --> 01:18:48.666
(indistinct remarks)

01:18:48.833 --> 01:18:52.083
I tried to speak
to the police officer.

01:18:52.083 --> 01:18:55.166
I tried to,
I tried to speak to him.

01:18:55.166 --> 01:18:58.541
I tried to, um, explain to him

01:18:58.541 --> 01:18:59.958
that we didn\'t want any trouble,

01:18:59.958 --> 01:19:02.791
and that if they wanted us
to disperse,

01:19:02.791 --> 01:19:03.750
we\'d disperse peacefully.

01:19:03.750 --> 01:19:05.000
But we didn\'t even
get to that point,

01:19:05.000 --> 01:19:08.583
because it didn\'t seem that they
were there to make a decision.

01:19:08.583 --> 01:19:12.166
It seemed that all the decisions
had already been made.

01:19:12.166 --> 01:19:15.000
And, um, I said,

01:19:15.000 --> 01:19:16.791
\"Please, please,
just listen to me,\"

01:19:16.791 --> 01:19:18.416
and they were swearing at me.

01:19:18.416 --> 01:19:21.833
They were being very aggressive.

01:19:21.833 --> 01:19:24.000
I was very small in comparison.

01:19:24.000 --> 01:19:26.333
These were big police officers,

01:19:26.333 --> 01:19:29.083
and I, um...

01:19:29.416 --> 01:19:32.708
(indistinct shouting)

01:19:32.708 --> 01:19:35.708
(gunshots firing)

01:19:36.916 --> 01:19:41.999
♪

01:19:41.999 --> 01:19:44.166
At the end,
it seemed to have been

01:19:44.166 --> 01:19:46.000
that it was 13 rubber bullets.

01:19:46.000 --> 01:19:49.916
It just felt like a spray
of hard things hitting my back,

01:19:49.916 --> 01:19:54.999
and I couldn\'t sit or lie
on my back for about a month.

01:19:54.999 --> 01:19:57.833
♪

01:19:57.833 --> 01:20:00.833
All of that is insignificant
to the kind of disgust

01:20:00.833 --> 01:20:03.791
and disappointment you have
with a government

01:20:03.791 --> 01:20:06.375
who\'d shoot its own children.

01:20:06.375 --> 01:20:16.500
♪

01:20:16.750 --> 01:20:19.291
If I were shot,
maybe it would\'ve made sense,

01:20:19.291 --> 01:20:24.500
because I perform aggression
almost all the time.

01:20:24.500 --> 01:20:28.541
But Shaeera, you know, is always
(unintelligible) on reason

01:20:28.541 --> 01:20:32.333
and always asking that
we approach it differently,

01:20:32.333 --> 01:20:35.750
always asking that we do
different things differently.

01:20:35.750 --> 01:20:38.458
And when they did to Shaeera,
we knew that

01:20:38.458 --> 01:20:43.375
this is actually a game
to break us.

01:20:47.958 --> 01:20:52.250
As a general rule, our academic
program was completed.

01:20:52.250 --> 01:20:55.125
And that was our responsibility.

01:20:55.125 --> 01:20:56.541
It was my responsibility,

01:20:56.541 --> 01:20:59.000
and every academic\'s
responsibility to ensure

01:20:59.000 --> 01:21:02.750
the 2016 academic year
was not lost.

01:21:02.750 --> 01:21:05.791
(indistinct remarks)

01:21:06.166 --> 01:21:09.375
The spirit of Fees Must Fall
has found room

01:21:09.375 --> 01:21:11.500
in our bodies and used us,

01:21:11.500 --> 01:21:16.416
and we pray that it will find
room in other bodies.

01:21:18.458 --> 01:21:19.250
We love Fees Must Fall.

01:21:19.250 --> 01:21:23.250
I will continue fighting for
free education until we get it,

01:21:23.250 --> 01:21:25.000
but not the same way.

01:21:25.000 --> 01:21:28.250
The same strategies
that we were using,

01:21:28.250 --> 01:21:30.166
they\'re not sustainable anymore.

01:21:30.166 --> 01:21:33.208
So, we will do what we did
in the beginning.

01:21:33.208 --> 01:21:35.541
We\'ll surprise people
the next time.

01:21:35.541 --> 01:21:38.958
(indistinct conversations)

01:21:38.958 --> 01:21:40.416
I can stand here and talk about

01:21:40.416 --> 01:21:44.208
the future of the movement,
but it would be disingenuous

01:21:44.208 --> 01:21:48.291
given that this movement
doesn\'t belong to me.

01:21:48.291 --> 01:21:49.708
I don\'t decide.

01:21:49.708 --> 01:21:53.125
It is a collective process

01:21:53.125 --> 01:21:57.375
that we hold
in very sacred regard,

01:21:57.375 --> 01:22:02.083
and students will ultimately
take this where it needs to be.

01:22:02.083 --> 01:22:05.875
And I have faith that
we will achieve

01:22:05.875 --> 01:22:11.416
our demand for free
decolonized education,

01:22:11.416 --> 01:22:13.666
but not without a fight.

01:22:13.666 --> 01:22:28.583
♪

01:22:28.583 --> 01:22:31.583
(singing in foreign language)

01:22:31.583 --> 01:24:15.250
♪

01:24:31.125 --> 01:24:34.208
(indistinct shouting)

01:24:35.708 --> 01:24:38.583
(birds chirping)