Minister of higher education must realize false promises are dangerous

16 May 2017

The minister of higher education must realize by now that it is dangerous to make false promises after he witnessed how easily the "Fees Must-Fall" campaign transformed into "Blade Must-Fall" and "ANC-Must-Fall" campaigns, says adv. Anton Alberts, the FF Plus parliamentary spokesperson for higher education.

Adv. Alberts said today with the budget vote for higher education in parliament that one should be careful about commitments, especially where the government makes empty promises to the public as it can come back to haunt you.

He says the FF Plus is aware of the minister saying that the replacement of pres. Thabo Mbeki with pres. Jacob Zuma has done nothing about the fundamental problems in the country.

"We want to point out to the minister that a major intervention is needed to get the country out of its crisis and that the ANC itself will have to change radically in the process.

“For deeply ingrained in the ANC alliance’s DNA is the Soviet inspired National Democratic Revolution, another revolution that has now turned on its owner as service delivery implodes and promises evaporate.

“You have a people problem, but it is because you have a thinking problem. The inner ethos of the ANC alliance requires centralization and micro-management of all spheres of life, including higher education, the suppression of diversity and the implementation of demographic representivity, while in reality it lacks the ability to even arrange a fight in a bar.

"The ANC alliance's thinking and revolution are far removed from reality. Therefore, universities and other tertiary institutions are allowed to phase out multilingualism and undermine diversity while it is exactly what is demanded from government.

"How difficult is it to achieve multilingualism in every higher education institution? We have translation services in parliament! We have the technology and skilled people, but the real problem is that the political will is lacking.

"As far as free education is concerned, the ANC Alliance cannot deny that it has been in charge of the country's economy since 1994. If there was proper government, free or semi-free tuition could possibly be feasible. However, the ideological myth of a National Democratic Revolution destroyed this possibility. The lesson is that man-made political revolutions only break down, and never build up.

"The sad state of affairs of our universities in the international arena is proof of this," says adv. Alberts.

Issued by Anton Alberts, FF Plus parliamentary spokesperson: Higher education, 16 May 2017