海角大神

The mood inside South Africa鈥檚 Parliament聽in Cape Town聽Wednesday聽afternoon was sedate. Heavy-lidded聽legislators聽quietly scribbled notes and President Jacob Zuma sat stone-faced as Finance Minister Nhlanhla Nene laid out the proposed terms of the country鈥檚 midterm budget.

聽鈥淢r. President, we鈥檙e pursuing a new growth path to expand participation and adapt to the changing realities of the global landscape,鈥� he said evenly, glancing down at his notes as聽he聽spoke. 鈥淎s in the past, though times are tough, we can create a better future working together.鈥�

Meanwhile, just out of earshot, screams and the heavy thud of exploding stun grenades filled the聽square in front of the Parliament as riot police聽聽gathered outside its gates. With clouds of neon pink smoke from the grenades billowing around them, students fled tear gas and police batons, dropping backpacks and placards with messages like 鈥淟iberate Our Education鈥� and 鈥�#FeesMustFall鈥� behind them.

鈥淲ithin an affordable medium term expenditure framework, we will build a more prosperous and equal South Africa,鈥� Mr. Nene continued from the podium.聽

The confrontation in front of Parliament聽鈥斅燼nd the nearly three dozen arrests that followed 鈥撀爓as in many ways a dramatic nonsequitor following a week of largely peaceful protests over university tuition hikes, which have now shut down more than a dozen institutions nationwide.

It was also, for many, particularly jarring聽to witness the contrast between business-as-usual in Parliament and the chaos outside聽in a country where most political leaders were themselves former activists who once stood on the opposite side of police barricades. President Zuma, for instance, spent 10 years in prison for his role in the armed wing of the anti-apartheid movement, and the minister of higher education, Blade Nzimande, is a former student leader and fiery trade unionist.

鈥淔ree higher education is my value is my ideal as a communist, but we live in a capitalist society,鈥� Mr. Nzimande told journalists apologetically on the steps of Parliament聽Wednesday, after a brief address to students, who drowned out his speech with jeers and chants of "Blade Must Fall."聽

鈥淭he country has enough resources to provide free higher education, but the resources are actually located in those who are rich," he said. "Government has a limitation.鈥�

But a new generation of student activists 鈥� most of them born after the end of white rule in 1994 鈥� says such limitation are unconscionable, particularly from leaders who know firsthand what it鈥檚 like to stand in their shoes. Instead, they are demanding to know why, a generation after the end of apartheid, higher education remains beyond the grasps of the vast majority of Black South Africans.

鈥淚 don鈥檛 want to make this about race, but yes, it鈥檚 about race,鈥� says Nompumelelo Gumbi, who studies politics and philosophy at the University of the Witwatersrand (Wits) in Johannesburg. 鈥淚t鈥檚 black students protesting because it鈥檚 black students who don鈥檛 have the capital [to pay tuition]. Our parents fought for us to have this access [to universities] and now many of us are losing it over money. That doesn鈥檛 make any sense.鈥�

'Our political leaders have betrayed us'

After a year that saw universities around South Africa shut down by protests over exclusionary language policies and statues of colonial figureheads, the current protests were touched off by an announcement earlier this month that Wits,聽one of South Africa鈥檚 premier universities, would raise fees by nearly 11 percent for the coming school year, to around $4,000 for most courses of study.聽

鈥淚 was devastated when I heard,鈥� said Zeina Biko, a second-year politics student. 鈥淭he first thing that came to mind was my parents. My mom is a nurse. My dad doesn鈥檛 work. How are they going to afford this?鈥�

And so last week, Ms. Biko 鈥撀爊o relation to South Africa鈥檚聽聽鈥撀爅oined thousands of her fellow students in demonstrations that filled campus and brimmed over into the surrounding city streets. Within days, their protests had spread to schools across the country, where they united under a pithy national slogan:聽.

If the immediate cause of student anger is tuition hikes, however, they have also touched a deep nerve here: about the glacial pace of change in many aspects of South African society since the end of apartheid 21 years ago.

Indeed, as demonstrators marched this week, their placards reads like a laundry list of post-apartheid South Africa鈥檚 social ills. 鈥淭he patriarchy must fall with the fees,鈥� reads one. 鈥淥ur political leaders have betrayed us,鈥� announced another. 鈥淥ur parents were sold a dream in 1994 鈥� we鈥檙e here for the refund,鈥� proclaimed a third.聽

A response too late

Although there have been limited reports of vandalism by protestors, the demonstrations have so far been almost entirely peaceful, with activists far more inclined to break into song than property as they parade through campuses and city streets.

In that regard, the protests echo for many the 1976 student uprising in the Johannesburg township of Soweto. Violently put down by apartheid police, it generated international outrage, and is widely considered the beginning of apartheid鈥檚 demise. Today, the event is even commemorated in a public holiday聽鈥撀燳outh Day 鈥撀爋n聽June 16.聽聽

鈥淭here鈥檚 a real understanding in this country of the power that students can have to affect extraordinary change,鈥� says Anne Heffernan, a historian of South African student activism at Wits. Leaders like Nzimande were once in the thick of that activism. 鈥淣ow we鈥檙e just seeing it again, from a new generation.鈥�

As demonstrations wore聽on Thursday聽in the shadow of the violent confrontation at Parliament,聽President Zuma pledged that he would meet聽Friday聽with student leaders and university representatives.

"Nobody disagrees with the message that students from poor households are facing financial difficulties and possible exclusion," he said in a statement聽Thursday, his first during the protest movement.聽聽

For students, however, the responses of political leaders have been, for the most part, too little, too late.聽When Minister Nzimande finally stepped outside to address the protestors at Parliament yesterday, he greeted them with a call and response chant that has been a mainstay of South African protests for decades. 聽

"Amandla!" he chanted.聽笔辞飞别谤.听But instead of the usual response, "awethu!" (To the people)聽a loud boo rumbled up from the audience.

聽鈥淣gawenu!" some of the protestors chanted back instead.聽To you! 聽