#FeesMustFall: University of Pretoria: Statement by Staff

As staff members of the University of Pretoria we add our voice to the #FeesMustFall campaign sweeping across our campus and our country. We applaud our students and the thousands across the country for the brave stance they have taken in standing up for the inalienable right of all to education.  

Through their measured campaign, the students have jolted the nation into realizing how close South Africa has come to failing a generation. We have witnessed with pride how young people have organized themselves with discipline, to voice their demands in a coherent, articulate way. This reconfirms our confidence in the future leaders whom we engage with on a day to day basis in our classrooms.  

We are outraged that students have had to endure stun grenades, teargas and a generally securitized approach to a legitimate and constitutionally enshrined right to protest.      

Over the years, the hardships of students and their families have increased as a result of the confluence of decreased government subsidies and rising university fees. This has been exacerbated by the broader structural challenges associated with poverty, inequality and unemployment. As staff we call on our university administration, the Government, and all roleplayers to grasp this opportunity and to engage meaningfully with students and other stakeholders.

 

Signed by:

Sandy Africa (UP Dept PolSci) Rentia Pretorius (UP Dept PolSci) Yolanda Spies (UP Dept PolSci) Gerhard Wolmarans (UP Dept PolSci) Maxi Schoeman (UP Dept PolSci) Cori Wielenga (UP Dept PolSci) Sonja Theron (UP Dept PolSci) Henning Melber (UP Dept PolSci) Roland Henwood (UP Dept PolSci) Anthony Bizos (UP Dept PolSci) Corinne Sandwith (UP Dept English) Sithembile Mbete(UP Dept PolSci) Andries Bezuidenhout (UP, Dept Sociology) Detlev Krige (UP, Dept Anthropology) Chrisna du Plessis (UP, Dept Architecture)  Garth le Pere (UP Dept PolSci) Malehoko Tshoaedi, (UP Dept Sociology) Danie Brand (UP Dept Public Law) Irma du Plessis UP Dept Sociology) Christi van der Westhuizen (UP Centre for Sexualities, AIDS and Gender) Karin van Marle, (UP Dept of Jurisprudence) Magnus Killander (UP Centre for Human Rights) Isolde de Villiers (UP Dept of Jurisprudence) Vangile Bingma (UP Dept Sociology) Johann Meylahn (UP Faculty Theology) Helen Inglis (UP Mechanical Engineering) Debby Bonnin (UP Dept Sociology) Laurie Nathan (UP Dept PolSci) Nisa Paleker (UP Dept History) Stephan de Beer (UP Centre for Contextual Ministry) Linda Blokland (UP Dept Psychology) Tshepo Madlingozi (UP Dept Jurisprudence) Chris Alden (UP Dept PolSci) Jacomien van Niekerk (UP Dept Afrikaans) Britt Baillie (UP Capital Cities Institutional Research Theme). Carina du Toit (UP Centre for Child Law) Stephan Mühr (UP Dept Modern European Languages) Charles Puttergill (UP Dept Sociology) Shirley de Villiers (UP Dept PolSci) Amy Giliam (UP Centre for the Study of Governance Innovation) Ernst Wolff (UP Dept Philosophy) Marie-Heleen Coetzee (UP Dept Drama) Karen Harris (UP Dept Historical and Heritage Studies) Anna-Marie de Beer (UP Dept Modern European Languages) Cas Wepener (UP Dept Practical Theology) Innocent Pikirayi (UP Dept Anthropology and Archaeology) Willem Fourie (UP Dept Ethics) Ian Macqueen (UP Dept Historical and Heritage Studies)