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.