JOHANNESBURG ― In a racially charged scene, a mostly Black group of South African student protesters on Wednesday confronted White students who want demonstrations for free education to stop so they can complete the academic year.
The University of the Witwatersrand in Johannesburg said “many racist remarks” were made when demonstrators disrupted a march there by several dozen students, most of them White, who want to return to class. Video of the confrontation shows one angry Black protester saying allegedly diffident police did not break up the march because its participants were White, in contrast to a campus clash a day earlier between police and protesters.
Since last month, sometimes violent demonstrations for free education have occurred at some South African universities whose students are mostly Black. Protesters say they are the victims of economic inequities and a legacy of “White privilege” in universities and other institutions dating from White minority rule, which was dismantled in 1994.
The sensitive topic of race relations is coming to the fore as more White students express their views. A group of mostly White students also rallied Wednesday for the resumption of classes at Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University in the city of Port Elizabeth. They said Black students who want to return to school are not speaking up for fear of reprisals.
The University of Cape Town closed Wednesday because of student protests.
While South Africa won praise for reconciliation efforts among racial factions when apartheid ended, many Black South Africans express frustration that they have failed to reap the economic benefits they expected from democracy. The income of the average white household is six times that of a Black household, according to 2011 census data.
The government has said it will cover 2017 fee increases for poor university students. Protesters rejected that concession, though some university managements say the majority of students and faculty don’t want to lose the academic year even if they support the idea of accessible education for all.
