A Critical Reflection of Higher Education in the Era of #RhodesMustFall and #FeesMustFall: A South African Perspective

Abstract

  This study critically examines the transformation of South African higher education following the #RhodesMustFall and #FeesMustFall movements (2015–2017), which challenged racialised institutional cultures, Eurocentric epistemologies and neoliberal governance. Anchored in decolonial theory and critical pedagogy – drawing on Frantz Fanon, Ngũgĩ Wa Thiong’o, Paulo Freire and scholars of pluriversal knowledge systems – the study situates ‘Fallist’ activism within broader critiques of corporatisation, managerialism, and statutory constraints imposed by the Department of Higher Education and Training (DHET), the Council on Higher Education (CHE) and the South African Qualifications Authority (SAQA). Employing qualitative documentary analysis and narrative inquiry, the study draws on primary protest texts, student manifestos, media reports, policy documents and academic literature. Findings highlight the movements’ demands for curriculum decolonisation, free education, epistemic justice and institutional inclusivity, while revealing post-movement challenges such as intensified managerial control, audit-driven cultures and marginalisation of student agency. The study argues that while symbolic and material gains were achieved, sustainable transformation remains fragile, underscoring the need for structural, epistemic and ethical reform beyond episodic protest.