Varsity Blues
| Minister backs vice-chancellors’ crackdown on acts of ’criminal’ violence and ’thuggery’ on campuses
HIGHER Education Minister Blade Nzimande has backed strong steps by university vicechancellors to stamp out destruction of property, saying criminal conduct cannot go unpunished.
“We have told the vice-chancellors and university management: ‘Act firmly, we’ll support you.’
“All we need is for one flying brick at Wits to kill a student. The state and the university would be liable. Parents send their children to university to study and graduate.
“No one wants police on campus, but how do you react to thuggery? No one wants to criminalise students, and no one will allow criminality. Criminal acts will be treated as criminality.
“We need South African society to stand up and say: ‘No, no and no further destruction.’ ”
He said the government had “done its best within the constraints it faces. In effect, between 70% and 75% of students price index inflation of 6%, which the council recommended; or
An 8% increase, based on the “higher education price index” used in the United States.
“If we granted below 8%, our universities would be in a fix, and as a government we could not let our universities drown. It was up to Finance Minister Pravin Gordhan, and he supported us all the way.
“He has reprioritised spending, as will be evident from the medium-term budget policy statement and next year’s budget. In fact, what we have is not an increase, but an inflationlinked adjustment. We will see no new academic programmes and no real increase in subsidies,” said Nzimande.
Asked if he was concerned about upper-class flight — the wealthy removing their children from local universities to study abroad — Nzimande said: “I am worried about it, and we should all be. Wealthy parents at wealthy institutions crosssubsidise everyone else.
“We really need the country to realise that enough is enough — the vandalism must stop. Why disrupt the academic programme while exercising your right to protest?
“We have the largest university systems on the continent, and some of the most prestigious universities, which can be transformed, but which must not be destroyed.
“We are looking for solutions as best we can. The NSFAS students are catered for; at [technical colleges] almost no students pay tuition fees. The ‘missing middle’ will in effect save R700 per family per month through no fee increases.
“We must protect what we have, for current students and for future generations — we cannot replace what has been built,” said Nzimande. Comment on this: write to letters@businesstimes.co.za or SMS us at 33971 www.sundaytimes.co.za