#REVOLUTION

How Twitter helped fuel and maintain the student uprising

#FeesMustFall
@SkhumbuzoTuswa

TRENDING
PEAK THIS WEEK
This week #FeesMustFall
and #NationalShutDown
trended worldwide,
reaching a peak on
Oct 21 - 22

200 000 tweets

#FeesMustFall

100 000 tweets

#NationalShutDown

University of the
Witwatersrand

University of
Johannesburg

The @WitsPYA account rst

tweets #WitsFeesMustFall on Oct
8 in response to a 10.5% fee
increase. Vice-chancellor Adam
Habib and members of his council
meet with students on Fri, Oct 16.
Senate House occupied and
renamed Solomon Mahlangu
House. Medical campus occupied.
Lectures and exams cancelled on
Tues, Oct 20. Students, with UJ
students, organise huge march to
Luthuli House on Thurs, Oct 22

#UJShutdown rst appears on July

20, tweeted by @EFF_UJ_Soweto.
It appears again on Oct 21, a day
ahead of UJ joining the protests.
#UJFeesMustFall rst tweeted on
Oct 14 by @Killa_assessino. UJ
students protest at their Auckland
Park and Soweto campuses on
Thurs, Oct 22, and march to Luthuli
House with Wits students. Violence
erupts on their return, clashes with
private security. Damage to
property

Tshwane
University of
Technology

rst used the phrase

#FeesMustFall on Twitter on
March 21 this year.
His tweet was a reection on
UCT's #RhodesMustFall
movement that would pull
down the statue of Cecil
John Rhodes on campus in
April in a campaign to
decolonise universities

University of
Pretoria
#TuksFeesMustFall is rst tweeted
as early as Sept 29 by
@Miss_Shumba calling students
to a protest. On Fri, Oct 23, the
#UPRising movement is central to
the march on the Union Buildings.
Protests begin on Wed, Oct 21,
after VC Cheryl de la Rey fails to
satisfy students at a meeting. They
occupy the amphitheatre and
student centre and take to the
streets, shutting down campus

#TUTFeesMustFall rst tweeted

on Oct 14 by @Uncle_JayB.
Campus rocked by protests and
burning tyres. Students have a
tradition of protest at TUT. On
Wed, Oct 21, students barricade
entrance to university, blocking
cars. TUT students accused of
intimidating protesters at the
Union Building march on Fri, Oct
23. #Sunnyside7 arrested after
Union Buildings march

*No tweet data available

for the University Venda

University of
Limpopo 1.38%
Unisa 1.09%

North-West
University,
Makeng

#NWUFeesMustFall rst tweeted

on Oct 18 by @MO_kAtz7. Reform
PUK movement launches on
mostly white campus on Thurs Oct
13. Statue of Afrikaans poet Totius
becomes site of contention
between black and white students.
After unsuccessful engagement
with management, rst protest
held on Fri, Oct 23, outside
campus. Gates locked on students

#NWUMakeng in the context of

#FeesMustFall rst appears on Oct
21 in a tweet from @ConverseChatty1. The Makeng campus is
closed on the same day following
protests and incidents of damage
to property. In a huge police
swoop, some 41 students are
arrested for public violence

GAUTENG
NWU 4.3%

NORTH WEST

Tuks 4.14%

MPUMALANGA

Though there is no ofcial hashtag,

the 300 students studying at the
campus shut it down and later join
forces with Sol Plaatje University
to take to the streets of Nelspruit
on Thurs, Oct 22. The university,
established last year, is forced to
suspend construction and classes

Wits 18.95%

KWAZULUNATAL
UFS 1.12%

NORTHERN CAPE

UKZN 0.67%

Central University of Technology 14.8%

EASTERN CAPE

*No tweet data

available for the
University of the
Western Cape

#UWCFeesMustFall rst tweeted

on Oct 16 by @tauffeq. #UWC
Shutdown rst tweeted on Oct 20.
UWC students part of the
Parliament march on Wed, Oct 21.
Police use stun grenades, water
cannons and rubber bullets on
students on Thurs, Oct 22, and in
dramatic off-campus march on Fri,
Oct 23. Students granted a high
court interdict preventing police
from using excessive force

University of
Mpumalanga

UJ 8.69%

FREE STATE

University of the
Western Cape

#UNIVENFeesMustFall
is rst tweeted on Oct 19 by
@Witnessed87. Two weeks before,
EFF spokesperson Fana Mokoena
posts pictures of cockroaches and
crumbling facilities at Univen on
Twitter, causing outrage. On Fri,
Oct 23, thousands of students are
led in protest by their rst female
SRC president, Mashudo Julian

LIMPOPO

*No tweet data available for the

Tshwane University of Technology

North-West
University,
Potchefstroom

University
of Venda

University of
KwaZulu-Natal
#UKZNFeesMustFall rst tweeted
by @XManMnisi on Oct 14, but on
Sept 14 UKZN students at
Westville barricade roads, calling
for more funding. Cars are torched.
Arrests. Westville SRC president
Lukhanyo Bhanda Mtshingana
jailed for 30 days. UKZN students
join #FeesMustFall protests on
Wed, Oct 21. March to ANC House
on Fri, Oct 23

Walter Sisulu 0.55%

Fort Hare 2.79%

WESTERN CAPE
CPUT
0.89%

Durban University
of Technology

Rhodes 7.4%

#DUTFeesMustFall rst tweeted

on Oct 20 by @Khule101.
Thousands of UKZN students join
DUT students for a march to ANC
House on Fri, Oct 23, but DUT
shuttle buses blocked by police,
forcing students to push through
blockades. Exams interrupted.
Tyres set alight outside gates

Stellenbosh 5.32%

Nelson Mandela
Metropolitan
2.93%
UCT 23.59%

University of
Cape Town
#UCTFeesMustFall rst tweeted
on Oct 14 by @Uncle_JayB listing
several universities. Protests begin
after #RhodesMustFall says it will
lead a protest on Mon, Oct 19. UCT
obtains court order against
hashtags #UCTShutdown and
#FeesMustFall. Ensuing protests
steadily shut down campus with
exams postponed. UCT central to
the march on Parliament on Wed,
Oct 21, which sees 23 arrests and
on-again off-again treason charges
against #Bellville6
Compiled by Garreth Van Niekerk and Charl Blignaut

KEY

Total tweets contributed

by each university in the
past 30 days.
Source: ROi Africa

First tweet data via ctrlq.org

University of
Stellenbosch

University of
the Free State

#StelliesFeesMustFall rst tweeted on Oct 12 by

@Feminist_Farai at SRC meeting. Following Open
Stellenbosch protests against Afrikaans-language
teaching, protests begin in earnest on Mon, Oct 19,
when students occupy main administration
building. Management obtains court order. A week
of drama, with buildings occupied and renamed
and two students arrested on Fri, Oct 23

#UFSFeesMustFall rst tweeted

by @Uncle_JayB on Oct 14.
Campus is closed on Wed,
Oct 21, when protests break out
on all three campuses despite
the university obtaining an
interdict

Nelson Mandela
Metropolitan
University
#NMMUFeesMustFall rst tweeted
on Oct 16 by @lmtyobile. Protesting students rise against fees on
Tues, Oct 20, and later disrupt an
awards ceremony. Students shut
down NMMU and police use rubber
bullets against them on Wed, Oct
21. NMMU suspends classes on Fri,
Oct 23

Rhodes
University

University of
Fort Hare

#RhodesFeesMustFall rst
appears on Twitter on Oct 14 with
@zee_ xanga asking SRC when
they will protest. #RUShutdown
protests bring the university to a
standstill on Mon, Oct 19. Police
step in at Midlands College after
Rhodes students march there to
shut down all tertiary education in
Grahamstown

#FortHareFeesMustFall rst tweeted

Oct 14 by @stvoices after reports of
indebted students barred from exams.
Same day sees #FortHareShutDown
from @Athi_nangamso. Student
threats begin Sat, Oct 17.
On Tues, Oct 20, protests start.
By Thurs, Oct 22, students take
control of Alice campus, set alight
entrances. Exams postponed

COBUS PRINSLOO, JACO GROBBELAAR, Graphics24