Johannesburg - Tributes have continued to pour in for one of the #FeesMustFall leaders who died after being knocked down by a car outside the Tshwane University of Technology’s Soshanguve campus last week.
Lesedi Phehla was a final-year IT student and a member of the ANC-aligned Progressive Youth Alliance. He had also served on the Student Representative Council.
The ANC Youth League said it was saddened by Phehla’s passing, and conveyed its condolences to his family.
It urged the government to accede to the demand for free quality higher education.
“It is this course and struggle that created fertile ground for the death of comrade Lesedi Phehla. We further call on our government to honour him by declaring free education now.”
The Young Communist League of South Africa said Phehla was one of its loyal members on the Soshanguve campus, “who served the organisation selflessly and with passion”.
“We are saddened by his untimely passing because we, as an organisation, relied on him and many other comrades to broaden access, redress and success in TUT and other institutions of higher learning.”
The YCLSA commended Phehla for being at the forefront of the struggle for free higher education.
“He understood that the children of the working class and the poor can't afford education, hence he was one of our soldiers who were at the forefront to ensure doors of learning were open.”
The organisation called on students to “defend the academic year” in order to create access for other students next year. “This can only be done if we don’t lose this academic year.
“We must prove to society that we can chant and pass at the same time, as it is revolutionary to do so.”
On Sunday, Universities South Africa said the tertiary institutions were standing at a crossroads.
It said this year's academic project would be completed at each of the universities, and public institutions would be ready to receive new cohorts of students next year.
The organisation admitted, however, that the current academic project at the 26 universities was at “serious risk of internal collapse due to the ongoing disruptive and destructive activities of a small minority of students”.
“It is fair to say that universities today face their most serious crisis in the post-apartheid era in our country,” Universities SA said.
luyolo.mkentane@inl.co.za
@luyolomkentane
The Star