Cape Town - Education activists have urged President Jacob Zuma not to release the much anticipated Fees Must Fall report.
Activists are calling for the president to refer the report to Judge Jonathan Heher because they believe not all stakeholders were given a chance to make submissions.
Last month the commission announced that its work on the report had been completed and is currently with the Presidency.
“We appeal to the president to refer the report to the commission in order to create space for stakeholders, that were excluded from the process, to make their submissions,” activist from the Education for Social Justice Foundation, Hendrick Makaneta said.
Makaneta said that his organisation had not been given an opportunity to address the fees commission.
“We believe there are many other organisations that still need to make submissions,” Makaneta said.
Makaneta acknowledged the problem of underfunding given the fact that the majority of students rely on the National Student Financial Aid Scheme.
“We all want free quality higher education but we feel that the process was not as inclusive as it should have been,” Makaneta said.
The commission of inquiry dubbed the “Fees Commission” was established in January last year to look into student demands after some universities proposed to increase their tuition fees by 10.5%. The commission, headed by Judge Jonathan Heher, received more than 200 written submissions and 120 expert witnesses had testified.
Fees Must Fall activists have applauded the education activists' stance, “They are right to say that it should be submitted back to the judge because they believe that there are inconsistencies and so do we,” activist and CPUT student, Lukhanyo Vangqa said.
Vangqa was part of the commission when it started but was unable to participate further because the commission did not have interpreters.
“The commission was very underprepared. They had people that also seemed very uninterested in what was discussed,” Vangqa said.
“The commission's work and frame of reference must include everyone but it must not prolong the process in a way that we forget about the core reason why it came about,” student leader, Ncedisa Mpemnyama said. Mpemnyama labelled the move as an “unnecessary delaying tactic”.
Meanwhile, negotiations between the University of Cape Town's management and its workers carried on until late Thursday afternoon. The discussions included the tabled demands the workers want before embarking on a strike. According to the Student Representative Council president, the negotiations were adjourned for lunch, giving unions time to caucus with members, and then continued until the late afternoon.