{"id":135917,"date":"2016-09-07T13:12:23","date_gmt":"2016-09-07T11:12:23","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/?p=135917"},"modified":"2016-09-07T13:12:23","modified_gmt":"2016-09-07T11:12:23","slug":"the-burning-of-books-has-no-connection-to-calls-for-free-education-anc","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/government\/135917\/the-burning-of-books-has-no-connection-to-calls-for-free-education-anc\/","title":{"rendered":"The burning of books has no connection to calls for free education: ANC"},"content":{"rendered":"

The African National Congress (ANC) joined government in its condemnation of the destruction of university property as part of student activism around the issue of free university education.<\/p>\n

The calls come after more than 20 students were arrested for public violence at the University of KwaZulu-Natal. UKZN announced it would break early for the September holidays following destructive demonstrations as the students raised issues which include fee increases, financial aid and the state of some residences.<\/p>\n

Vehicles and a library at the university\u2019s 85-year-old Howard College building were set alight.<\/p>\n

Naledi Pandor, chairperson: ANC NEC Sub-Committee on Education and Health, said: “The burning of books and University Infrastructure is reprehensible and has no connection to the calls for free education for the poor.<\/p>\n

“The burning of books is a symbolic act of anti-intellectualism. In the 1930s the German Student Union, a Nazi structure, ran a book-burning campaign, targeting books written by Jews, liberals and communists. It was a prelude to Fascism and the Holocaust.”<\/p>\n

Pandor said that attacking university property and harassing university leaders is illegal and a crime. “Unlawful conduct cannot be justified by the mistaken belief that burning books is an attack on white monopoly capital.”<\/p>\n

“Our country must expose this vandalism, that seeks to hold universities to ransom in the name of decolonisation.”<\/p>\n

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The DA meanwhile, said it also condemns the violence and the destruction of property at UKZN.<\/p>\n

The political party called for calm across all university campuses in South Africa, as the relevant parties work together to find a solution to the fee crisis in Higher Education.<\/p>\n

Pandor said that the ANC is confident that a solution will be found to ensure that no young person from a poor family is denied higher education. “We urge the government to determine a solution that ensures those who can afford to pay fees do so and those who do not have the financial means are supported by state resources.”<\/p>\n

The DA said that the current fee crisis in universities is the result of two decades of chronic financial neglect by the ANC government.<\/p>\n

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In July, the party made a submission to the Commission of Inquiry into Higher Education and Training, who have been tasked with making recommendations on the feasibility of making higher education and training fee-free in South Africa.<\/p>\n

The DA proposed the following:<\/p>\n