More broken promises from Blade
24 June 2016
Following the revelation that universities are yet to receive the billions of rands in student support promised by the Minister of Higher Education, Blade Nzimande, last year; I will today write to the Minister to demand he give a deadline for the transfer of the necessary funds.
South African universities from across the country are reporting that they have not received the promised funds. Universities have held up their end of the bargain by allowing tens of thousands of indebted students to re-register. For his part in the plan, the Minister promised billions of rands of funding to be transferred to universities to support the students.
The DA supported this deal, though we were able to identify a further R2.73 billion in the 2016/17 budget which could have been transferred to assist poor students as well as give universities enough subsidies to pay the bills. The ANC rejected these proposals, showing that they prioritised presidential jets, unnecessary VIP protection over the needs of the poor.
It seems that the Minister does not even keep his own promises, betraying tens of thousands of students. Universities are now experiencing cashflow issues which threaten to close them down.
Historically disadvantaged universities are most vulnerable to this. The DA revealed last month that the University of Fort Hare (UFH) had stopped signing contracts with students as a result of funds running out. UFH has been on the brink of bankruptcy for some time now and last year its management unlawfully pilfered funds from NSFAS to pay staff salaries.
This is not because money is not available. Even without the R2.73 billion boost proposed by the DA earlier this year, NSFAS has plenty of money. It is just too poorly managed to deliver it. Last year NSFAS posted a surplus of nearly R2.7 billion. NSFAS itself estimates that it will have a surplus of nearly R3.2 billion as late as 2019, revealing massive inefficiencies in governance of the sector as well as a lack of political will to address these problems.
The DA will continue to put pressure on government to address the needs of poor and ensure that Blade and his government answer for their broken promises.
Issued by Belinda Bozzoli, DA Shadow Minister of Higher Education and Training, 24 June 2016
