Catholic students join South African protests; chaplain shot in face

[rug]

Students from the University of Cape Town, South Africa, march during an Oct. 5 protest demanding free tertiary education.

by Bronwen Dachs
Catholic News Service
Oct. 12, 2016

CAPE TOWN, SOUTH AFRICA As students and police clash at South African universities, with many campuses closed because of protests against fee increases, Catholic students called on the government to increase its education budget.
"Higher education in South Africa is chronically underfunded," the Johannesburg-based Association of Catholic Tertiary Students said in a statement, noting that "the country spends far less on this sector than many other developing countries."

The high cost of university education, unaffordable for most black South Africans, has become a symbol of the racial inequalities that remain more than two decades after the end of apartheid.

In a day of violent clashes between students and security forces at the University of the Witwatersrand in Johannesburg Oct. 10, a priest was struck in the mouth by a rubber bullet fired by police.

https://www.ncronline.org/news/world/catholic-students-join-south-african-protests-chaplain-shot-face