Zuma needs to make terms of reference public and comprehensive

14 January 2014

The DA welcomes the confirmation by the President today that there will be a Commission of Inquiry into University funding, and we will hold him to his promise that it will issue its report within eight months.

While we welcome this Inquiry and appreciate the need to address the long-standing issues in the long-term, Minister Nzimande must also provide solutions for the immediate funding shortfall. 

The DA also demands that the terms of reference for the Commission be released for public scrutiny. The ANC government has previously established such commissions with extremely limited terms of reference to act as nothing more than a whitewash and a distraction without ever considering the real issues, determining the responsible parties or producing meaningful and actionable recommendations. 

In this respect, we urge the President to ensure that the Commission takes into account, among other things, how the neglect of the higher education caused the crisis the sector currently faces.  Indeed, despite continuous warnings from university management, the Democratic Alliance, and even its own reports, such as the Ministerial Reviews of the Funding of Universities and NSFAS, Government has grossly neglected the Higher Education sector for the past 20 years. A major reinvestment into the sector is required.

The Commission must also take into account that the sector is underfunded by international standards, in comparison with Universities in the developing world, elsewhere in Africa and other emerging economies. It is clear that the immediate funding needs of the Higher Education sector are in the billions. Several Universities are financially unsustainable and teeter on the brink of bankruptcy without immediate relief.

We estimate that just to restore University fees to 2012 levels, to fund the poorest students, to expand funding to the “missing middle” and to assist with unpayable debt burdens carried by successful students will cost in the region of R30bn per annum. This amount does not take into account the need to improve and develop our universities beyond these levels in future.

Finally, it is essential that the Commission’s finding are not simply ignored as were the findings of the above mentioned Reviews. Instead, the findings must be taken on board with urgency, given that previous investigations into University funding have been undertaken at great expense in time and money, only to have little purchase over the governments funding decisions 

All the above being said, it is also crucial that the formation of the commission cannot be an excuse for the ANC Government to continue dragging its feet on the issue. The DA will continue to call for additional funding to be reprioritised immediately in the 2016/17 budget from elsewhere in the fiscus to deal with emergency shortfalls in the system, to prevent universities from going bankrupt and to substantially increase the financial support to students who cannot afford to pay their fees. 

Statement issued by Prof Belinda Bozzoli MP, DA Shadow Minister of Higher Education and Training, 14 January 2016