35 Years of SASCO: A Legacy of Struggle, Political Consciousness and Service

NONSIKELEO NAKO|September 7, 2026

Members and supporters of the South African Students Congress (SASCO) celebrate the organisation’s 35th anniversary on 06 September 2026. Photo: SASCO

Thirty-five years later, the history of SASCO remains inseparable from the broader struggle for a just, democratic and transformed South Africa. It is a history written not merely in conference resolutions and organisational documents, but in the courage of generations of students who refused to accept exclusion, inequality and injustice as their permanent reality.

As former SASCO leaders and deployees who served at the Unisa National SRC from 2014–2016, we carry with us the pride and responsibility of having been part of a generation that understood that student leadership is a terrain of struggle, political education and service to the people.

We were part of a collective that dared to challenge the status quo and contributed to the historic articulation of Unisa as the “University of the Land”, a university whose doors must remain open to the sons and daughters of the working class and the poor.

We were also among those who stood on the frontline of the struggle that would become the #FeesMustFall movement. Our paths crossed with fellow fighters at Wits University, Comrade Nompendulo Mkhatshwa, Comrade Mcebo Dlamini, Comrade Shaeera Kalla and many others, and together we witnessed a moment in history when an entire generation of young people declared that education cannot remain a privilege reserved for those who can afford it.

The rest is history.

But history must never become nostalgia. The struggle continues. SASCO was our political classroom. It sharpened our consciousness, challenged us to understand the material conditions of our people and taught us that leadership without principles is nothing more than the pursuit of personal ambition. It taught us that positions are temporary, but principles must endure.

Today, many of us continue to serve beyond the university, carrying the same consciousness into the workplace as workers, activists and shopstewards. The terrain may have changed, but the fundamental question remains the same: Whose interests do we serve, and whose voices do we amplify? As we celebrate 35 years of SASCO, we salute the generations of activists who came before us and those who continue to carry the banner forward.

To the current and future leadership of SASCO: guard this organisation’s legacy fiercely. Do not allow the movement to become a vehicle for individual advancement. Keep it rooted in the aspirations of students, particularly those from working-class, poor and historically disadvantaged communities. Let SASCO remain the home of political consciousness, the voice of the voiceless and the organised force of students demanding a better tomorrow.

May the movement continue to fight for accessible and quality education, meaningful transformation, social justice and the dismantling of every structure that reproduces inequality.

We are proud products of SASCO. We are products of the student struggle. We were taught to question. We were taught to organise. We were taught to serve. And above all, we were taught that the struggle does not end when we leave campus.

Happy 35th Anniversary, SASCO!