Student activism and the decolonial discourse in South African higher education: analysis of the #feesmustfall documentary (2018)

Abstract

In the recent past, the South African higher education sector has encountered significant challenges, which have prompted civic and political contestations regarding access to quality education in the context of a complex transformation discourse. This paper analyses the #FeesMustFall (2018) documentary in the backdrop of the transformation challenges that triggered the 2015 student protests in the South African Higher education sector. It adopts the exploratory qualitative design to analyse the context, narrative focus, and characterisation that depict the decolonial nature of student activism in post-apartheid South Africa. Ideological film criticism and framing are used to explore depiction of the socio-economic and political milieu that underpin the contestations within the sector. Qualitative content analysis was used in the collection of secondary data whereas thematic analysis was applicable in the synthesis of discursive themes and generation of the findings. The paper focuses on the ongoing transformation challenges within South African higher education, which continue to mirror colonial inequalities. It appreciates the documentary’s application of nuanced film production techniques to elucidate the limitations that beset post-apartheid education in the context of multiple challenges that inhibit progressive transformation to redress colonial prejudices. These include poor access, inadequate funding, equity disparities, and poor infrastructural support to promote stable and a peaceful educational environment in the sector. In conclusion, the article notes how the film’s cinema verite depicts a precarious socio-economic and political situation that needs an honest comprehensive decolonial discourse in South African higher education.