University Funding: Time for Leadership that Prioritises Opportunity
Today I visited the University of Cape Town (UCT) to listen to the concerns of students regarding the funding crisis at institutions of higher education.
But the legitimate concerns of students were drowned out by the voices of SASCO who are defending the failures of the ANC and Minister of Higher Education, Blade Nzimande.
This is not a fight between students, but against a government that is not addressing exorbitant fee increases and the chronic underfunding of higher education institutions and NSFAS.
Minister Nzimande is failing to show leadership and is conspicuous in his absence on campuses. Instead he is hiding behind SASCO and shifting the blame to university management.
We cannot allow privilege to be perpetuated at universities by a government that is denying poor students an opportunity to improve their lives through education. This is a basic requirement for accessing an increasingly competitive job market.
Over the past 20 years university enrolment has more than doubled while funding per student head has declined from R 20 187 in 1994 to R16 764 in 2014. Over the same period university fees have escalated at a pace far above inflation. Qualifying students are being left without the means to afford an education and the opportunity to work towards a future they value.
The recent wave of protests on campuses across South Africa reflect a growing frustration and anger at the continued financial exclusion of students from institutions of higher education. It is high time that Minister Nzimande steps up to provide the leadership this crisis needs instead of denying that a crisis even exists.
Students across South Africa are asking: where is Blade Nzimande? The Minister is clearly out of touch with reality and what is happening at our universities. He seldom attends even the most important meetings of the Parliamentary Portfolio Committee on Higher Education and Training. Indeed, the Minister spends far too much of his time attending talk shops and task teams, and far too little making sure that the funds the public gives him to run a good department are well spent, and that we have an excellent Higher Education and Training system.
Minister Nzimande has shifted all blame for this crisis to the universities without acknowledging that the funding crisis affects the universities which has resulted in them having to increase fees. This is a feeble attempt to absolve himself, his department and his government of all responsibility for this dire situation for both students and universities and students.
This is very much a crisis and it is of the government’s making. Wasteful expenditure and corruption in government diverts funds away from education. In 2011, the then-head of the Special Investigations Unit (SIU) and Assets Forfeiture Unit, Willie Hofmeyer, told Parliament that between R25 and R30 billion per year is lost to corruption in the state tender system alone. Meanwhile universities are being forced to increase their fees in order to compensate for a decrease in government funding while the NSFAS shortfall of R51 billion has left half of qualifying students without access to funding. Corruption and wasteful expenditure kills opportunity.
The DA will be looking to Minister of Finance Nhlanhla Nene to show leadership tomorrow in his medium-term budget policy statement (MTBPS) on how government plans to address this crisis. The Minister must cut wasteful and fruitless expenditure and prioritise opportunity.
The DA has identified a number of areas where significant savings could be made to enable additional funding to be directed to students and universities:
Reduce bailouts to failing state owned enterprises (SOEs). SAA bailouts alone have cost SA R30 billion since 1999, with a R6.5 billion bailout announced earlier this year while in last financial year, PetroSA, PRASA and SANRAL accumulated losses of R17 billion between them.
Abandon the R1 trillion nuclear deal and earmark additional funding for education opportunities instead.
Reduce the bloated public sector wage bill, projected to grow to R 437 billion in the 2015/2016 financial year. A mere 1% saving would unlock an additional R4.3 billion for education.
We cannot accept a system that leaves students drowning in debt upon completion of their studies while billions are lost to corruption and mismanagement in government departments. This places an unfair burden on students and their families. And holds young South Africans back from a better future.
The DA believes that all qualifying students should be empowered with the means to study. We will continue to fight for policies that see the funding priorities of our government aligned with the needs of our young. Freedom without opportunity is not a freedom one can use.
Issued by Mabine Seabe, Spokesperson to the DA Leader, 20 October 2015
