A group of 13 people, including a pastor, a lawyer, and members of the University of Pretoria (UP) student representative council and other students, are walking from Parliament to the Union Buildings to raise money for access to higher education.
At 6 am on 21 March the group will walk from the parliamentary precinct in Cape Town to the Union Buildings in Pretoria. “The walk is also to celebrate Human Rights Day, we are going to show that education is a human right,” Walk 4 Access volunteer Olwethu Dlanga said. They expect to conclude the walk on April 10.
The walk is supported by UP management, SRC and the Elim Church with the aim to raise funds for students who beneath the cracks of free education. “It’s objective is to raise funds to feed the students at the university, fund registration, accommodation and historic debt,” Dlanga said.
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“Education has been made free but in the finer details, that is not actually true,” Dlanga added.
Former President Jacob Zuma announced free education in 2017 supposedly alleviating the concerns of students protesting under the banner of #FeesMustFall and others. But in the two years since that, students in universities across the countries are still protesting because education is not free.
Students have been protesting issues like historic debt, accommodation, meal allowances, and various other issues related to the National Student Financial Aid Scheme this year. Institutions like University of KwaZulu Natal, Durban University of Technology, Tshwane University of Technology have all held protests.
Walk 4 Access urges the public to donate money to their cause.
“We are urging the public to date at least R2 per individual. Our target is for for two million people to donate at least R2 so we can raise R4 million. Anyone who is willing to donate can donate R2, but we can also expect anything more than that,” Dlanga said.
To donate to Walk 4 Access, you can deposit money into the following account:
Bank name: ABSA
Type of Account: Cheque
Account name: Elim Students
Account number: 4054822369
Branch name & code: Hatfield 33554
For more information, contact walk4access@gmail.com
