'We didn’t achieve anything': 10 years later, some Fees Must Fall protesters say dream yet to be realised

As Thursday marks 10 years since students from around the country staged a demonstration at the Union Buildings over free education, some who were there said the dream is yet to be realised.

In October 2015, student protests erupted over university tuition fees.

Students demanded that President Jacob Zuma declare free education.

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On this very day, a decade ago, Zuma announced a 0% increase in tuition for the following year and promised that in 2017, an announcement would be made for free education for poor students.

But Amla Monageng, who was a student leader at the University of Pretoria, said that it has still not been achieved.

"The institutions continue to increase the fees. There is a cap for NSFAS [National Student Financial Aid Scheme] to fund the students and not many students are funded. So, we are still far from achieving free education."

Simon Machete, who was also part of the Fees Must Fall movement, said the problems from a decade ago still persist for students.

"Many students that we used to classify as the missing middle are still missing middle. They are too rich to qualify for NSFAS, they are too poor to afford these institutions of higher learning. We didn’t achieve anything."