Over the past few weeks, South African musicians and poets showed their support for the #FeesMustFall protests. ZILUNGILE MNISI rounds up five acts that paid tribute to the movement.
1. Electronic duo The Kiffness released Voetsek ft. Blade Nzimande, a song that was inspired by the “Students must fall” statement made by the minister of higher education early in the protests. The song is catchy, with a dance-friendly rhythm.
2. “They don
t wanna hear us at all, and all we wanna say is that the fees must fall,” says Durban rapper Aewon Wolf in Fees Must Fall, a song derived from the previously recorded Sukumani. The song served as a rallying call to young protestors as they fought against exorbitant fees.
3. Cicatrixx, featuring Kong and Onevan, recorded the Fees Must Fall Song, which includes the lyrics “Zuma wanna build Nkandla and then there ain’t no money for the scholar/ Now we holla, folks of other colour, Amandla!”
4. #FeesMustFall, a spoken word poem by Zewande Bhengu, recited over a track of student protestors singing Iyho Solomon, speaks of “broken 1994 dreams” and being “that savage who still has to beg for education, while you swim in your privilege”.
5. In another poetry tribute, former University of KwaZulu-Natal student Brian Gwamanda, speaking in a combination of isiZulu and English, rhymes about events from 1976, Marikana and the current fight for free education, reminding us that 0% increase does not mean that education will now be free.
