NZIMANDE’S CAPPED HIKES PROGRESSIVE BUT LATE

It reflects a government that dithers in the face of difficult questions, a government that would rather defer making difficult decisions than have to deal with the consequences.

The ANC made promises to young people in 1994, but it is now reluctant to keep them. At its own national conference in 2007 it also adopted the resolution to “progressively introduce free higher education for the poor until undergraduate level”.

Reform of the higher education sector has been premised on widening access as well as ensuring that higher education is affordable in order to ensure that no person who qualifies to study is excluded.

Given the exclusionary nature of apartheid, it was evident that many students, particularly poor black students, would be reliant on the state for their dream of getting a university education possible.

Government has indeed created the National Student Financial Aid Scheme and has exponentially increased contributions to the fund from R441-million in 1999 to R10-billion in 2016.

But this has not been sufficient because demand has always outstripped supply. Added to that, the allocations per student has mostly not been sufficient to cover all costs related to studying such as accommodation, meals and books.

Although government provides grants to universities annually, it has not heeded the calls by university management that government spending on higher education needs to increase to assist universities to keep up with rising costs.

Universities have made up the shortfall by passing on the burden to students, increasing fees annually, in some instances, by 50%.

This situation was a ticking time bomb and it’s safe to say that the bomb has exploded.

The call for free education is not new, neither is it unique to the #FeesMustFall movement that is concentrated at historically white universities.

It is a struggle that has been waged by poor black students since the dawn of democracy, who have protested at the beginning of every academic year.

Government’s failure in 22 years to address the problem of funding in higher education is a symptom of how subsequent administrations, in particular the Zuma administration, have diverted from core issues within the transformation and development agenda of South Africa.

The models that illustrate the feasibility of fee-free education for the poor as envisaged in the ANC’s own policies already exist. Proposals for increasing financial support to universities and relieving the burden on students are also abundant. But the government has failed to act on these.

Nzimande’s announcement is actually very progressive and represents a shift in government’s posture, albeit that it still falls short of the ANC government’s own policy goals. But it has come a little too late.

This action is almost a decade overdue from the Polokwane resolution on the matter. This was where and when the government should have started its shift.

“Minister thought he could pacify students