Johannesburg - The ANC defended its handling of the student protests across the country, accusing university management and analysts of being underhanded.
“It is ... disingenuous for university management and some analysts to try to cast aspersions on the ANC-led government. No sooner had the government increased the amount apportioned to NFSAS (National Student Financial Aid Scheme) to increase fees, than the university management decided to increase fees. Their project is clearly the intention to exclude the poor,” ANC general secretary Gwede Mantashe said in a statement.
The statement was issued ahead of a briefing by the ruling party in Johannesburg.
Manatshe said the demands of the students, including that there are no fee hikes next year, were reasonable and understandable in view of the high cost of tertiary education.
“These costs are prohibitive to both state and privately funded students. The consequence of this is that fewer students will access higher education. This is a function of a hybrid system where the state is expected to fund higher education whilst at the same time universities are autonomous,” Mantashe said.
He also took a swipe at Wits University’s vice chancellor Adam Habib, saying his recent actions should be condemned.
“Amongst other actions he has taken is to close the SRC account in order to deepen the crisis with the sole intention of depriving students from writing their final exams. He, like all vice chancellors, must take responsibility for the decisions they take,” Mantashe said.
He said the ANC condemned what appears to be unilateral decision-making by some institutions to raise fees for the next academic year.
The party was still committed to free quality education and had made strides in reaching this goal, Mantashe said.
These included that all Doctorate or Masters Programmes undertaken through research were funded fully by government, and that when students successfully concluded their final year of studies, their entire NFSAS loans were converted into full scholarships.
At Basic Education level, more than 80% of schools are no-fee schools.
He did admit that a “serious challenge” were the “gap years” of the first and second years of undergraduate study where students had to find resources. The government needed to urgently address this, Mantashe said.
“We have been informed that the President of the Republic will be meeting with the university community tomorrow (Friday). We urge the meeting to seriously consider the holistic challenges being faced by students be they transformation, language policy or financial exclusion – any such policies enforce discrimination, and run contrary to the spirit of our Constitution and Bill of Rights,” he said.
Labour Bureau
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