The recent release of #FeesMustFall activist Khanya Cekeshe and sentencing of Mcebo Dlamini caused a stir on social media over whether we should treat them as heroes or criminals. Cekeshe spent two years in prison before being released on a remission of sentences announced by President Cyril Ramaphosa, while Dlamini got a suspended sentence for public violence and a litany of charges that were dropped after he entered a plea deal.
SA has been dubbed “the protest capital of the world”, and another issue that has become a headache for government and police is the vandalisation of property by the participants in protest action. The burning of infrastructure has been on the rise, apparently as a means of putting pressure on the government or intensifying a strike...
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