#NationalShutdown collective ‘rejects’ Zuma’s meeting ‘for a select few’

Student protest leaders outside the Unions Buildings appeared unhappy with the people said to be representing them inside the seat of South Africa’s government.

Protest organisers handed out a pamphlet on Friday morning‚ expressing displeasure that the meeting called by President Jacob Zuma to address the crisis would include the Democratic Students Organsation‚ the South African Students Congress and the South African Union of Students.

“We‚ the #NationalShutdown collective‚ would like to reject this notion‚” the flier said‚ adding that it is “a non-partisan collective of students‚ staff and workers who reject the exclusionary and exorbitant fees of higher education and learning”.

“We‚ the students‚ have suspended our differences for the national goal of #FeeMustFall #FreeEducation.”

The statement contained a not-so subtle threat as the collective send a memorandum of demands it gave to government on Wednesday is “not to be negotiated”.

“It is a list of demands‚ not requests.

The #NationalShutdown collective said it “rejects” Friday’s meeting “for a select few‚ as it is divisive”‚ and reiterated that Higher Education Minister Blade Nzimande had until noon to address its demands and “publicly respond to the whole student body of South Africa”.