Parliament – Parliament’s higher education and training portfolio committee on Sunday applauded President Jacob Zuma’s announcement that there would be no fee increments at universities in 2016.
The committee commended government, university leadership, and student representatives for reaching an amicable agreement which was set to restore order after normal tertiary institutions operations were disrupted for almost two weeks, committee chairwoman Yvonne Phosa said in a statement.
“The government has displayed responsiveness by finding a way of dealing with a matter of national importance with escalating protests whereby students were calling for fees to fall. We welcome the short-term solution as announced by President Zuma and also acknowledge that the medium- and long-term work is continuing in order for a sustainable solution to be found,” she said.
The committee regarded this as an essential building block towards implementing a policy on free higher education for poor and academically deserving students in the long-term.
It was always important to recognise that the provision of free education at tertiary level was a process and not an event that could be accomplished overnight. However, the process had to be accelerated.
“It will be in the best interest of this country if this process is fast-tracked,” she said.
“After what had largely been peaceful protests over nine days, the committee is concerned that some rogue elements within the student population attempted to smuggle violence into the campaign at the Union Buildings on Friday.
“We condemn such acts of violence with the contempt they deserve. The perpetrators who have been identified and those who can still be identified have to face the consequences of their unruly actions. We cannot have a situation whereby a peaceful and legitimate protest gets marred by the actions of a lawless few,” Phosa said.
Similarly, the isolated cases where excessive police force was reportedly used against students at protests that took place elsewhere during the #FeesMustFall campaign should be condemned.
Phosa wished all students well with their final exams.
African News Agency
* E-mail your opinion to [email protected] and we will consider it for publication or use our Facebook and Twitter pages to comment on our stories. See links below.