Mkhize blasts Heher varsity fees report
Ousted Mugabe has only himself to blame Declares recommendations grossly inadequate
AFRICAN leaders, who were his contemporaries, were responsible for the 37-year reign of recently deposed Zimbabwean dictator Robert Mugabe, according to former Botswana president Festus Mogae.
He was the keynote speaker at the 11th annual Chief Albert Luthuli Memorial Lecture at the University of Kwazulunatal’s Westville Campus, in Durban, yesterday.
In a frank assessment of the military-led removal of the 93 year-old tyrant, Mogae said Mugabe had overstayed his tenure as Zimbabwe’s president.
“I take the example of sports where people who are gifted excel and reach their peak and then they decline. That happens even in leading, you cannot be a good leader forever, there’s no way it can happen,” Mogae said.
He said there was nothing sacrosanct about two presidential terms and instead leaders should groom their successors to take over the leadership baton from them.
“We should accept, just as we know that we’re born and we’re going to die whether we like it or not, and that’s even in leadership. With most of the things that we achieve we can never be at our peak forever.
“The tragic thing that happened in Zimbabwe was that president Mugabe should’ve retired maybe 10 or 15 years ago. He would not have had to withdraw had he trained and been understudied by (Emmerson) Mnangagwa and others,” Mogae said.
He added Mugabe had failed to realise earlier that Zimbabwe as a country should move without him.
When radio and television presenter Peter Ndoro, who was chairing the lecture, asked whether Mogae should have called Mugabe to urge him to step aside, Mogae said: “Those of his age should’ve done so.”
He said senior leaders, especially those who ere with Mugabe in the struggle to liberate Zimbabwe from the clutches of the British under Prime Minister Ian Smith, should have told Mugabe to step aside.
He said some of those serving in power under Mugabe had hoped that nothing is ever said about them so that they could retain their lifestyles and political power.
“It was a very unhealthy and tense situation where everybody suspected everybody else, that’s why I don’t only blame Mugabe. I blame many of the people there because it happened slowly but it kept on getting worse,” Mogae said.
He said it was vital to set up strong institutions to circumvent human weaknesses and greed by those in power.
ANC treasurer-general Zweli Mkhize yesterday criticised the recommendations of the fee-free higher education commission and committed the ruling party to the provision of free education at all levels for the poor.
Mkhize told students gathered at the Young Communist League’s national progressive black academic summit that recommendations of the commission chaired by Judge Jonathan Heher were “grossly inadequate”.
“The income contingent loans will create a disproportionate burden on poor students,” said the former Kwazulu-natal premier.
Mkhize, who is one of seven ANC leaders running for party president at next month’s national conference, warned that income contingent loans recommended by Heher’s report would worsen inequality and posed a huge challenge for students.
“As it stands, it (the commission’s report) does not provide answers,” he said.
According to Mkhize, the ANC remains committed to the provision of free education at all levels for students from poor households.
He said the #Feesmustfall campaign exposed the inadequacies of the country’s education system, particularly the National Students Financial Aid Scheme (NSFAS).
Mkhize described the inadequacies as “systemic”.
The education system was “condemning the majority of our people to a 30% chance of passing matric,” he said, referring to pupils whose parents did not complete schooling.
Mkhize said pupils whose parents completed school or were tertiary education graduates had an 84% chance of passing matric and receiving high incomes.
“Quality education will help people escape inter-generational poverty,” he said.
Mkhize said the government should look into its budgeting processes and reprioritise.
He said access to education should be unhindered by socio-economic conditions.
“Education must be seen as a strategic investment,” said Mkhize.
He said progress has been made with access to education but that access must be matched with quality.
The former ANC Kwazulunatal chairperson also reiterated his call for an academic programme for party leaders at all levels.
“We need to up the bar,” he said.
Mkhize said this would help the ANC deal with corruption and political killings that have plagued the party especially in Kwazulu-natal.
“People must lead on basis of capacity,” he said.
On the seven ANC presidential candidates’ meeting with President Jacob Zuma, Mkhize said there was an agreement that they should not send a message that they were fighting one another.
Mkhize, who spent years in exile in Zimbabwe, warned South Africa to learn from the ousting of its veteran leader Robert Mugabe this week, ending his reign of 37 years.
Mkhize said the ANC frowned upon a third term for any leader. He said leaders must be regenerated and infused with “new and fresh blood”.
He said South Africans should also learn from the protests in Zimbabwe that followed that country’s armed forces seizure of power.
“Not a single bullet was fired, no windows were broken,” said Mkhize.
He said Zimbabwe’s post-mugabe era offered an opportunity for the Southern African Development Community to build the regional economy.
Mkhize predicted that Mugabe’s resignation would lead to a new dawn.
He likened Mugabe’s exit to the ousting of Philippines dictator Ferdinand Marcos in 1986 after more than two decades in power.
Mkhize said the people unhappy with Marcos’s rule asked the father of the army commander to tell his son not to kill his own people. the