Let’s support the student movements – A message from a high schooler

    In our coverage of the #WitsFeesMustFall protests this week, we’ve had opinions from lecturers, to Wits students, to our editors. This time, an anonymous high school student tells us how the protests have made her feel.

    This is groundbreaking.

    We, as high school students, will forever be appreciative of your efforts. I understand that I’m not fully in the position to speak on behalf of all high school children in South Africa, but we will undoubtedly benefit from your actions and I cannot allow some gratification to go unheard.

    Some of you are blood brothers and sisters with us, some of you have brotherly and sisterly relationships with us. But for the last three days, you have not only all been immensely acting as maternal and paternal figures by physically making the bodies in power listen to you about issues that will ultimately affect us, but have also inspired us to learn three important lessons: know your rights, know your power and persist!

    This is not exclusive to Wits students though. Throughout the year we (as South African students) have been through a lot: the Rhodes statue, bringing the Stellenbosch situation to light and now the Wits fees increase, among many other unpublicised events and situations. We take our hats off to everyone for their refusal to yield to any pressure that may have affected the outcome of what they were fighting for. This is something we have only studied about and heard our parents preach about. We thank everyone for playing their part in getting the country and other countries to gain a level of respect for the South African youth as a whole.

    The high school students in South Africa should show our support for the university/college students whenever it is possible – even if it is only through social media. They are paving the way for us in ways we may only discover in ten years, once looking at these years in retrospection or once analysing our future lives.

    None of our fights are over. Keep pushing. More power to you! Amandla!

    #WitsFeesWILLFall