Last year the #FeesMustFall movement dominated the headlines, universities around the country rocked to their cores by defiant students.

Welcome to the 2016 movement then, and you can bet there will be just as many fireworks this time around.

In case you’re playing catch up we’re going to start with Blade Nzimande’s announcement (HERE), our Minister for Higher Education and Training announcing that 2017 university fees would increase by a maximum of 8%.

In addition he proposed a financial aid scheme that would see the state offer increased financial support for poor and middle-class students, therefore reducing the fees they would be required to cough up.

Maybe you’re thinking that above should mean the students are happy, but here’s the Daily Vox with why that isn’t the case:

Because they want a revolution – a complete break with the status quo – and they’re not satisfied with promises of a no-fee increase for some students, and Nzimande’s deferral of the decision-making on the broader fee issue to treasury and universities.

In the context of their broader demands and discontent, Nzimande’s announcement yesterday was a slap in the face. He spoke only on a very narrow issue (fee increases) and resolved this issue only for a portion of the student body.

Broader questions about free education, decolonising the university, patriarchy, outsourcing, and basically taking students’ concerns seriously were not even acknowledged…

Nzimande’s problem is that he is still making pronouncements from an ivory tower and refusing to engage with students in a substantive way…

In a country that has seen an average of three protests a day between 2013 and 2015, the students’ protests are simply the most visible expression of a growing discontent with the state’s inability to deliver on its promises and its unwillingness to engage constructively with aggrieved groups.

OK, that should bring you somewhat up to speed. We’ll start at UCT, with this below from News24:

Final year law students were waiting between lectures in the Leslie Social Science building on UCT’s Upper Campus when a group of demonstrators moved inside.

According to reports a member of the law faculty was threatened after at least one protester grabbed a fire extinguisher from the wall.

“The protesters came in and made an announcement,” said a final year student who was in the hall at the time.

“It’s quite hard to know who was and wasn’t a protester.”

No surprise then when it was announced classes would be shut down for both yesterday and today.

Then there’s this from Wits, where students faced off with private security guards outside the university’s Great Hall yesterday:

UKZN wasn’t to be left out, News24 reporters capturing this footage of students marching on campus:

Over at the University of Free State classes were also suspended, as they were at NMMU. This from another News24 report, with a little on what’s happening at Stellies:

UFS students on Tuesday vowed to continue putting pressure on the government and the institution until their demands for free education were met.

Meanwhile, University of Stellenbosch students damaged property and assaulted fellow students and members of staff on Monday and Tuesday, the institution said in a statement.

It would however not close its doors.

Vice-chancellor Wim de Villiers said they had tried to ensure that academic work continued with minimal disruptions…

SU intended to ensure that academically deserving students should not be excluded from higher education due to a lack of money. In 2015 it provided R658m to help students, according to their annual household income.

De Villiers said the disruption of classes, tests and other university activities was unacceptable and they would take disciplinary action against those involved.

You can find out more about what’s happening at the respective campuses HERE.

You can bet today will be another day of high tension around the country. You can also bet Blade ‘Ivory Tower’ Nzimande will somehow, somewhere, put his foot in his mouth.

[sources:dailyvox&news24&news24&news24]