Students hurl insults at Higher Education acting minister outside Parliament

09 November 2015 - 16:19 By Jerome Cornelius and Gabi Mbele

"Voetsek‚ shut up‚ fat belly" students shouted at Higher Education and Training acting minister Thulas Nxesi today. Nxesi‚ surrounded by armed police and personal security‚ emerged from the gates of Parliament at about noon in the hopes of addressing protesting students.The students had demanded that President Jacob Zuma address them."The President is currently away on a state visit to Germany‚ he won't be addressing you‚" said Nxesi.But the students were having none of that."Voetsek sifuna uZuma (we want Zuma)‚" said one.Another said: "Take your fat belly inside whoever you are‚ we don't know you".Pressed into the police barricade‚ Nxesi addressed the media as students screamed insults at him as he tried to read the response to the students' memorandum.The three-page statement addresses issues including the 0% fee increase for 2016‚ free quality education‚ Afrocentric curriculum‚ outsourcing of services and police brutality.Said one student: "Who is he talking to? We aren't listening‚ we want Zuma. In the news (on TV) it will look like he's talking to us but he's talking to the media".Zuma is is due in Germany tomorrow for an official visit at the invitation of Chancellor Dr Angela Merkel‚ while Deputy President Cyril Ramaphosa is in Iran. Minister for Women Susan Shabangu was appointed as acting president earlier today...

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