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The Young Communist League of South Africa (UFasimba) in the province of Gauteng supports the ongoing mass action led by the Progressive Youth Alliance (PYA) at Wits University against student fee increment by the university's ruling oligarchy.

The YCLSA in Gauteng strongly believes that the continuing commoditisation of education and related student fee increment serve to reproduce national, class and gender inequalities that were transferred from colonial and apartheid socio-economic relations. In particular amidst the crisis of the global capitalist regime, fee increment by further and higher education institutions constitutes an assault against students from working class and poor communities. Embedded in this is an intention to increase the already high rate of financial drop-outs and to block access.

The ongoing crisis of the global capitalist regime has ensured that there are massive job losses, persistent short-time and temporary lay-offs, residential evictions and repossessions, and sky-rocketing cost of living over and above the brutality that was already in place from poverty wages, casualisation and labour brokers. Under the circumstances to expect students from working class and poor communities to pay more over and above the presently prohibitive fees is both immoral and barbaric.

As the YCLSA we call on Wits University students not to dampen their revolutionary spirit and morale but to continue fighting until their demands are met. We firmly believe that Wits University, like all other public further and higher education institutions is not in a business of profit maximisation, but that it is an institution entrusted with the responsibility to impart knowledge and transfer skills.

We are disgusted by the loud silence of Wits University's Council Chairperson Mr Saki Macozoma. Instead of dealing with students problems emanating from the Council's reactionary decisions, he is busy ploughing resources into COPE and rendering Wits an institution for the elite and super rich.

We call on Wits University's Council to reverse the immoral and barbaric fee increment decision. We also call on all other further and higher education institutions in the province to freeze student fee increment in line with the memorandum submitted by the South African Student Congress (SASCO) Gauteng Province to the Department of Higher Education and Training on Friday 11 September, 2009. In support of SASCO's memorandum, we once more call on the Department Higher Education and Training to intervene in the whole question of student fee increment.

Otherwise intensified action shall follow.