President Zuma must protect poor students from 8% fee increase
5 September 2016
The DA welcomes the reported acknowledgement by the Department of Higher Education of the autonomy of universities and their legal rights and duties to determine their own fees for 2017.
However, as the DA has made clear: any fee increase cannot and must not be carried by poor students.
We therefore call on President Zuma to urgently make available the R2.5 billion it will take to assist students with the 8% increase. We believe this amount can be found by reprioritizing existing budgets and by getting our spending priorities right.
The ANC government’s silence on what additional measures it will take to assist poor students to pay the increased fees is a cause for great concern. This is a continuation of the lack of leadership which has characterized both President Zuma and Minister Nzimande's handling of this important matter for many years.