Cape Town – Deputy President Cyril Ramaphosa says lessons can be drawn from the university fees campaign to advance social cohesion.
The Deputy President said this when he appeared before the National Assembly for a question and answer session with Members of Parliament on Wednesday.
He had been asked, as a custodian of social cohesion, what lessons can be drawn on nation building from the fees protests and how they can be applied to advance social cohesion.
“The [fees movement] has a significant contribution to make to the promotion of social cohesion. Recent protests at universities have challenged us to not only grapple with the funding of higher education, but have also provided lessons for our efforts to promote social cohesion and nation building.
“The right to peaceful protest and to freedom of expression and association are fundamental Constitutional principles that contribute to the promotion of social cohesion. We will not be able to build a united nation, unless all our people have the opportunity to freely express themselves and unless we develop mechanisms to resolve differences,” he said.
The Deputy President said the struggle for access to higher education for the poor is fundamental to the transformation of society.
He said it was for this reason that government has prioritised access to higher education through the establishment of a judicial commission of inquiry into the feasibility of free higher education and through the massive expansion of state funding for poor students.
He said genuine social cohesion is premised on social justice, economic inclusion and equity.
“Unless poor people have equal access to educational and other opportunities, then we will never be able to build a cohesive society. The Fees Must Fall Movement, therefore, has a significant contribution to make to the promotion of social cohesion.
“It has the potential to contribute to a fairer society in which the vast economic and social disparities in our country are progressively reduced and eradicated. There are other lessons that we need to draw from these protests,” he said.
The Deputy President said the inability of some of the role players to find common ground and resolve their differences demonstrates that the South African society needs to improve its capacity to mediate conflict.
“We need to ensure that legitimate protest does not degenerate into violence, destruction of property and the disruption of the academic programme,” he said. – SAnews.gov.za
