Pietermaritzburg - A court sheriff has attached more than 700 vehicles from the KwaZulu-Natal education department after it failed to pay bursaries it promised to students, according to Sunday's Rapport newspaper.
The provincial department has failed for over a year to pay more than R36 million in bursaries to the Sants Private Higher Education Institution. This was to find the tuition of over 1000 students.
The Pietermaritzburg High Court ruled on November 26 that the department was responsible for paying the tuition fees, Sants' managing director Jaco Bernard told Rapport.
In October 2012 the department identified 1260 students to study at Sants. The first payment of the total bursary amount of R30
million was due in January 2013.
The department has allegedly been sending smses to students warning them to communicate with Sants only in the presence of a department official. It has allegedly been threatening not to give them their bursaries should they continue studying at Sants. Rapport was unable to get comment from the department.
Sants offers a four-year bachelor of education qualification for the foundation and intermediate phases. It is offered in nine centres in KwaZulu-Natal. -Sapa