Free education ill-conceived
It is becoming increasingly apparent that the “free, quality higher education” now being touted by the ANC government is nothing of the kind. The R57bn required for it over the next three years is being paid mainly by the poor. For example, R7bn has been cut from the basic education budget; another R7bn from the housing budget.
The scope and nature of additional cuts will only become apparent over time, but it is highly probable that provincial health budgets will also be slashed. The increase in VAT is also a tax mainly on the poor, in spite of there being some excluded items. Free higher education constitutes, therefore, a massive transfer from the poorest in our society to university students — those most likely to join the middle classes.
The “quality” promised is also extremely doubtful in many (although not all) cases. Several of the universities that serve the poorest students, such as those in the former Bantustans, are in dire straits. Unisa was swamped this year with thousands of additional students and failed to cope with the numbers. Four universities were closed for a time in recent weeks because of violent student protests about accommodation, student loans and other matters. I have visited one of them, Walter Sisulu University (WSU), to find that it is short of staff, lacks proper lecturing facilities, has residences that have been taken over by criminals or squatters, has a violent, unkempt campus and has had two major programmes deaccredited recently. More may well follow.
This is an ill-conceived policy, motivated by entirely political considerations, hastily implemented (against the advice of the government’s own Heher commission of inquiry), lacking proper long-term costing and badly run. It is unlikely to be financially sustainable. It is doubtful whether it will solve the problems of places such as WSU – indeed it may make them even worse, as such institutions will be increasingly subject to pressure to admit more students without the means to cope with them.
Prof Belinda Bozzoli, MP
DA shadow higher education minister