College capers an insult to taxpayers who fund them

All South Africans are going to feel the pinch as the government tries to find the billions of rands needed to fund free higher education. The increase in value-added tax, by one percentage point to 15%, is going to affect every household. It is a sacrifice that most South Africans, although they may feel squeezed, would be willing to make. Young people who would ordinarily be rejected by universities will now have access to tertiary education, and become more employable. The country’s skills pool will expand. The end result is not only the alleviation of poverty; we may also see a decline in crime and many other ills.

For that to happen, state resources must be spent as prudently as possible. That is why the spending spree on entertainment at the Tshwane South Technical Vocational Education and Training College in Pretoria is nauseating.

The allocation of R16-million to non-academic activities by the college is a smack in the face to all taxpayers. Almost R3-million of this budget will be spent on parties.

The 2014 motivation for such spending by student support manager Maphuti Maraba, that students “have been tirelessly committed to their studies” and the celebration was meant to “rejuvenate” them, is an insult to South Africans.

The investigation by our journalist clearly shows that this spending is not normal. Someone within the university management is illegally benefiting. The Special Investigating Unit’s investigation must be speeded up and other law enforcement agencies must be roped in to conduct their own probes, and the culprits must be jailed.

The deputy principal, Debra Malete, must also face the music for racking up a cellphone bill of R441 719 last year.

Higher Education Minister Naledi Pandor must clean up that college and employ personnel who will ensure that state resources are spent on accommodating more poor students, and not on parties.

Failure to act against such behaviour would be a betrayal of our youth and future generations to come.

Kiekie Mboweni, Nkowankowa

Tread carefully on land issue

Even if South Africa does not repeat the disastrous policies of Zimbabwe, the land expropriation issue and the inflammatory rhetoric will incite people to mass violence.

Ramaphosa has said he will not allow “smash-and-grab interventions”.

But in his speech to parliament, he called the taking of land from the indigenous people of South Africa the nation’s original sin.

If we need to redress the issues of the land, let us go about it in the correct and most humane way possible and not by (reverse) apartheid!

Arthur J Parkies, Sebokeng