#FeesMustFall began at which South African university?

#FeesMustFall began at the University of the Witwatersrand. Students at Wits in Johannesburg started protesting on 14 October 2015 after the university announced a proposed 10.5% increase in fees for the following academic year.

The initial campus protest quickly grew into a national movement. Students occupied parts of the university and demanded that fee increases be cancelled, while also raising concerns about financial exclusion, student debt, outsourcing and the broader cost of higher education. Protests soon spread to institutions including the University of Cape Town, Rhodes University and others.

The campaign was influenced by the earlier #RhodesMustFall movement, but its central focus was access to affordable, quality education. The issue reached Parliament and the Union Buildings in Pretoria, turning a campus dispute into one of South Africa’s largest post-apartheid student mobilisations.

The government eventually announced a 0% fee increase for the 2016 academic year. The University of Johannesburg, Stellenbosch and Pretoria later saw related protests, but none of them was the movement’s original starting point.