Minister Nzimande’s hunger for personal power clear in statist new Bill
28 January 2016
The new Higher Education Amendment Bill presented yesterday in Parliament continues along the path of creeping state capture over Universities, while the sector is on the verge of economic collapse.
The Bill as it stands adds new layers of state-centred requirements to the already substantial existing range. Amidst a number of innocuous technical changes, the Minister has snuck in several clauses which will give him additional powers to dictate to universities, some of which are framed in such a way so as to reduce the susceptibility of the Minister’s decisions to oversight by the Courts:
A new assault upon the powers of Councils in at least five respects, including the elevating of the standing of University Forums, and the extension of Ministerial powers over areas currently the responsibilities of Councils.
The introduction of nebulous and vaguely described “transformation goals” and “oversight mechanisms”. At present the crucial matter of transformation is managed by stakeholders across the sector under the oversight of the Council for Higher Education.