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SOUTH AFRICAN President Jacob Zuma announced a freeze on university fee rises yesterday following talks with students and colleges.
Some students protested outside the Union Buildings in the capital Pretoria, the seat of the government, while the negotiations took place inside.
Youths threw stones at riot police and burnt tyres and portable toilets that had been set up for them on the building’s grounds.
But inside, university vice-chancellors and chairpersons agreed to cancel the threatened 10.5 per cent fee increase that sparked a week of protests across the country.
In a televised address following the talks, Mr Zuma said: “On the matter at hand, we agreed that there will be a 0 per cent increase of university fees in 2016.”
“We have agreed that the vice-chancellors will extend the time of the examinations period to compensate for the time lost.”
Mr Zuma added that a number of issues needed to be addressed in the long term, including free education, institutional autonomy, racism and what the students call “black debt.”
He said a presidential task team already established to look into university funding mechanisms would now also address “broader transformation issues” in higher education.
In a statement, the ruling African National Congress (ANC) praised students, led by the Progressive Youth Alliance, for their victory.
Comparing the protesters to the 1976 Soweto student uprising, the ANC said the youth of South Africa had “stood as a united force and presented to government their unequivocal demands for accessible, quality education.”
