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The hashtag dominated headlines both on print and digital publications. But no hashtag was as powerful as #FeesMustFall, which gave birth to several other #...mustfall campaigns and which has been named the Newsmaker of the Year for 2015.
Students from across the country and all walks of life stood up with one voice in October last year to fight against high university fees and a proposed tuition increase.
The protests brought the country to a standstill and made headlines internationally.
The National Press Club said the decision to name #FeesMustFall as the newsmaker was “unanimous”.
“This was a major game-changer in our country. There is no doubt that tertiary education in South Africa will never be the same again,” club chairperson Jos Charle said.
He added that the role social media played was instrumental in the success of the campaign.
“The #FeesMustFall campaign spread across all university campuses like wildfire and dominated the news environment for at least three weeks. The fact that it led to President Jacob Zuma announcing that there would be no increase in tertiary education fees for 2016 illustrates the success and impact of the campaign.”
The annual award is given based on the amount of media coverage and impact a topic has.
President Jacob Zuma, Hollywood star Charlize Theron and Thuli Madonsela are previous recipients, among others.
Last year the award went to the Oscar Pistorius trial.
