{"id":7131,"date":"2021-03-26T18:02:31","date_gmt":"2021-03-26T18:02:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/?p=7131"},"modified":"2021-03-26T16:08:47","modified_gmt":"2021-03-26T16:08:47","slug":"nzimande-saftu-clash-over-student-protests-soap-opera-metaphor","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/nzimande-saftu-clash-over-student-protests-soap-opera-metaphor","title":{"rendered":"Nzimande, SAFTU clash over student protests \u2019soap opera\u2019 metaphor"},"content":{"rendered":"

Africa-Press<\/a> – South-Africa<\/a>. <\/strong><\/span>PRETORIA, March 26 (ANA) \u2013 Higher Education Minister Blade Nzimande has hit back at the South African Federation of Trade Unions (SAFTU) after it called for his resignation for likening recurring student protests to long-running television soap opera The Bold and the Beautiful.<\/p>\n

Referring to frequent protests by students pressing for free tertiary education in recent years under the #FeesMustFall banner, Nzimande told Parliament\u2019s education committee: “I’m concerned, every year it\u2019s like a soapie now, the Bold and the Beautiful.\u201c<\/p>\n

The remark has sparked fury on social media, with some users slamming Nzimande as arrogant.<\/p>\n

SAFTU said Nzimande was reckless and must step down for likening students exercising their democratic right to demand equal access to education for all to a soap opera.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn 2016, at the height of #FeesMustFall, he recklessly made a comment that \u201cstudents must fall\u201d. Indeed, many students fell in a hail of police rubber bullets, whilst the education of other students was compromised by arrests, imprisonment and suspensions,\u201d SAFTU said.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is disconcerting for the minister to be calling the fight for free education and against financial exclusions a \u201cBold and Beautiful soapie\u201d. For a minister who is the general secretary of the Communist Party to make remarks that undermine the efforts of students to free quality education and underplay the need for such education is shameful.\u201d<\/p>\n

Nzimande said the labour federation\u2019s statement was \u201cvacuous as it is an opportunistic attempt to grandstand on the basis of a deliberate effort to misconstrue his contribution to the central problem facing the higher education\u201d and broader higher education and training system in South Africa.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe minister is absolutely clear about what he said and meant by his metaphoric reference to a \u2018repeat soapie\u2019, that the higher education system must be supported with proper funding to support government policy on fee free higher education for the working class and poor if we are to avoid an endless and predictable cycle of instability at our campuses,\u201d a statement from the higher education, science and innovation ministry said.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe minister\u2019s metaphor, to make it absolutely clear, was not directed at discrediting student struggles for equality, which he full supports, but at the system that forces this repeat cycle of conflict and instability at our institutions.\u201d<\/p>\n

Nzimande said he was willing to meet the federation \u201cif SAFTU has real concerns and issues regarding developments in the post school education and training sector\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u2013 African News Agency (ANA), Editing by Stella Mapenzauswa<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Africa-Press – South-Africa. PRETORIA, March 26 (ANA) \u2013 Higher Education Minister Blade Nzimande has hit back at the South African Federation of Trade Unions (SAFTU) after it called for his resignation for likening recurring student protests to long-running television soap opera The Bold and the Beautiful. Referring to frequent protests by students pressing for free […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":84,"featured_media":7130,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2,8,12],"tags":[274,315,275],"class_list":["post-7131","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-all-news","category-homepage-english","category-policy","tag-africa-press","tag-africa-press-south-africa","tag-south-africa-2"],"yoast_head":"\nNzimande, SAFTU clash over student protests \u2019soap opera\u2019 metaphor - South Africa<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"PRETORIA, March 26 (ANA) \u2013 Higher Education Minister Blade Nzimande has hit back at the South African Federation of Trad ...\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/nzimande-saftu-clash-over-student-protests-soap-opera-metaphor\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Nzimande, SAFTU clash over student protests \u2019soap opera\u2019 metaphor\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"PRETORIA, March 26 (ANA) \u2013 Higher Education Minister Blade Nzimande has hit back at the South African Federation of Trad ...\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/nzimande-saftu-clash-over-student-protests-soap-opera-metaphor\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"South Africa\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/AfricaPressTunisiaa\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2021-03-26T18:02:31+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/sites\/31\/2021\/03\/img-605e06ef4ca3a.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"720\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"404\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/nzimande-saftu-clash-over-student-protests-soap-opera-metaphor#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/nzimande-saftu-clash-over-student-protests-soap-opera-metaphor\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"cfeditoren\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb\"},\"headline\":\"Nzimande, SAFTU clash over student protests \u2019soap opera\u2019 metaphor\",\"datePublished\":\"2021-03-26T18:02:31+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/nzimande-saftu-clash-over-student-protests-soap-opera-metaphor\"},\"wordCount\":423,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/nzimande-saftu-clash-over-student-protests-soap-opera-metaphor#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/sites\/31\/2021\/03\/img-605e06ef4ca3a.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"Africa Press\",\"Africa Press-South-Africa\",\"South-Africa\"],\"articleSection\":[\"all news\",\"homepage-english\",\"policy\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/nzimande-saftu-clash-over-student-protests-soap-opera-metaphor#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/nzimande-saftu-clash-over-student-protests-soap-opera-metaphor\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/nzimande-saftu-clash-over-student-protests-soap-opera-metaphor\",\"name\":\"Nzimande, SAFTU clash over student protests \u2019soap opera\u2019 metaphor - 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