By Tinashe Zvakasikwa.
Johannesburg, South Africa – (News of the South) – Zimbabwe’s President Robert Mugabe, who is a graduate of the university, joined President Jacob Zuma and other dignitaries at the University of Fort Hare’s centenary celebrations held today at the institution where he spoke as an alumnus.
President Mugabe, who graduated with a Bachelor of Arts degree from the university in 1951 hinted that at least 3 000 Zimbabwean students have graduated from the University of Fort Hare since 1995.
He said, through his scholarships, more than 6 000 Zimbabwean students had graduated from South African universities between 1995 and 2016, more than 3 900 of the country’s students completed university studies in South Africa, 3 010 of them at Fort Hare before adding that the number is however decreasing owing to the fact that Zimbabwe now has 14 university of its own.
“I decided on two things, that every child has a right to education and that our education naturally must not only be basic but must also be tertiary.” President Mugabe said.
He congradulated the institution for having been in existance for 100 years and went on to add that “There is a special education here which motivates a student. It’s African-ness, the history that it tells of the formation of the ANC and the making of the African nation,” he said.
Mean while, students were protesting outside the sports complex where the celebrations were taking place, to demand food, transport and accommodation allowances. Police took one woman in for questioning after students looted a food tent.
Earlier during the week students at the Alice campus set fire to a building and a tent on Wednesday night claiming that the university management had not met their demands.
On Thursday, Vice Chancellor Mvuyo Tom said students started the fires despite the fact that management and the Student Representative Council had an amicable meeting and reached an agreement that night.
Fourteen students had been arrested and charged with malicious damage to property and theft by Thursday night with reports of more violence on campus and police using stun grenades and teargas to disperse protesting students.
The university was originally known as the South African Native College. Many of the country’s political elite such as Oliver Tambo, Nelson Mandela, Govan Mbeki, and Mangosuthu Buthelezi studied there.
Comments
About Author
