We Are No Longer at Ease: The Struggle for #FeesMustFall

by Busani Ngcaweni (Editor), Wandile Ngcaweni (Editor)

We Are No Longer at Ease is a collection of personal articles, essays, speeches and poetry mainly from voices of young people who were part of the student-led protest movement known as #FeesMustFall, which began in 2015. It tells the journey of the youth who participated in a movement that redefined politics in post-apartheid South Africa and is evidence of a ‘born-free’ generation telling their own story and leading the discourse and action on transforming South Africa. Young people are not at ease. They are refusing to coexist with coloniality, sexism, democratic indifference and inequality. We need to acknowledge and take heed to their calls. This collection includes works by former student leaders turned researchers such as David Maimela and Asanda Luwaca; student newspaper journalists who covered the protests, like Natasha Ndlebe and Nkateko Mabasa; public intellectuals whose aim was to inform broader society of the key aspects of the movement, like Sisonke Msimang; lecturers who assisted the students to articulate and find clarity in voicing their ideas such as Sabelo J. Ndlovu-Gatsheni; and most importantly the foot soldiers on the ground who led the students through the police brutality of rubber bullets and pepper spray, like Mcebo Dlamini, Lovelyn Nwadeyi, Ntokozo Qwabe and Sarah Mokwebo.

232 pages, Paperback

Published October 24, 2019

Reviews

[Jesse Griesel]

Perhaps better read as a collation of personal perspectives, stories, accounts and experiences than as an academic reference. Yet, nonetheless, this was a moving piece of work that not only intended to represent a narrative from students (from first years to well-versed student leaders), but also included that of student support staff. Furthermore, there are well-written pieces dissecting the relative successes and failures of the movement, and how it should be conceptually understood. Worth the read!