#FeesMustFall was the largest protest movement that our
country has ever witnessed. The protest movement is said to have initially
started at the University of Witwatersrand, later on spread all over
universities in South Africa. I personally supported Fees Must Fall because it
was for a worthy cause which benefited all underprivileged; privileged, South
African and international students who study at any South African university.
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| Newspaper shows university fee increases. Image source: Google Images
Let me clearly state this to everyone reading my blog;
the fees did not fall, only the annual interest increment for tuition fees for
the year 2016 fell. Fees Must Fall was good for students but a nightmare for Blade Ndzimande and his PR team. The Minister of Higher Education and Training
did not listen to us as students and his PR team did not have a strategic plan
to nip this movement in the bud before it becomes a national crises. I
recommend that all public relations practitioners should be proactive and
vigilant in the organisations that they work for. The government should put
more money in education than any other department.Public relations
practitioners must try to predict or foresee situations that might cause damage
or harm an organisation or brand making it not to reach its objectives; in this
case the PR team of Blade Ndzimande should have anticipated Fees Must Fall and
should have advised him wisely to avoid a national shut down of universities.
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I further suggest
that if you are a public relations practitioner and your brand or company (in
this case the government/university) is under fire, the masses are against you;
do what the masses want and you shall win them again. The disadvantage here is
that in the public relations industry you cannot control social media and you
cannot control everyone but there is an advantage you can submit, come clean,
admit and apologize. The moral of the story here is to do what people/students
want you to do (lower your fees asinamali(we don’t have money).
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| Students marching for #FeesMustFall. Image source: Google Images
In the wise words of the outspoken rapper like the name
of this blog, Kanye said “Listen to the kids bro.” Translation: Listen to the
students. All universities must lower their fees, make them affordable for everyone unless they want #FeesMustFall2TheReturnOnSteroids.
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