Khanyile: Nzimande reappointment ‘spits in the faces of students’

President Cyril Ramaphosa announced his cabinet at the Union Building in Tshwane on Wednesday evening.

Nzimande received backlash in 2015 during the height of #FeesMustFall protests, after he said the government would start a movement of its own called #StudentsMustFall.

"If the students don’t accept this (government’s position), we will start a movement of our own: Students must fall,” he said at the time.

The South African Union of Students (Saus) says a positive aspect to Nzimande’s reappointment is the fact that there is already a working relationship.

But the union’s spokesperson Sbusiso Thwala says students are still struggling with issues that emanated from Nzimande’s previous spell at the helm.

"The announcement of Bongikosi Nzimande we've accepted it with mixed reaction as a union. We do look forward to working with the minister, we've had of course experiences with him when he'd served during his tenure in the ministry. On the one hand he's person, of course, who will always lend an ear to students, would avail himself to engage with students and that one thing we are looking forward to working with him.

"On the other hand, of course, is our experiences that we've had with him during the fees must fall movement and look the reality is that he served at a very critical time within our country and there's a lot of issues that even today we're grappling with and that had happened during his tenure. There are still students who are behind bars as we speak, there are still students who are having house arrests all emanating from his tenure."

Thwala says the union will be requesting a meeting with Nzimande after he is sworn in on Thursday.

"In certain quarters of our constituency says he needs to be welcomed back by a mass protest but of course as a union, we said one of the first things is to reach out. There's many progressive policies and initiatives that when he was at the helm we've been able to initiate and we are looking at the good ground we have been able to break.

"At the same time, there are some issues that we need to iron out. So after the swearing-in today before the week ends we would have sent a communique to his office so that hit the ground running."

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Meanwhile, former #FeesMustFall leader Bonginkosi Khanyile says the appointment of Blade Nzimande is “a spit on their faces”.

Khanyile is under house arrest for his part in the protests.

He says Nzimande is the same minister ordered the police to brutally assault students.

"Today the president has retained him in the office of higher education, we feel we are really undermined, we feel that if Nzimande was honourable enough, he would have turned down the offer.

"Many activists are still under trauma from the era of fees must fall and that it is not only that bad things happened when he was in command but he made a mockery of our plight.”

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