Defending Nzimande

SIR — In his piece (As usual, communist party is missing in action, November 9), Bryan Rostron presents his irrelevant Italian background as justification for his allegation against South African Communist Party (SACP) general secretary and Higher Education and Training Minister Blade Nzimande.

When the student protest broke out at Wits University, comrade Nzimande was attending a higher education transformation summit. At that summit, a meeting was convened with all participating student formations to discuss the issues of financial exclusion and transformation.

Mr Rostron has no capacity to undo history, which has it on record that Mr Nzimande is the first higher education minister in SA to commission a study into the progressive introduction of free higher education for poor students.

Mr Rostron and his ilk want us to believe that the report was withheld. On the contrary, it was presented to the relevant parliamentary committee, higher education sector stakeholders and a number of national lekgotlas of the African National Congress (ANC). Mr Nzimande cannot be blamed for a lack of resources and insufficient allocation from national revenue to finance recommendations from the study.

Where was Mr Rostron when Mr Nzimande addressed the students who marched to Parliament? Where was Mr Rostron when the SACP called for a moratorium on fee increases and its cadres actively participated in the protest, providing leadership?

Where was Mr Rostron when the SACP, as part of the ANC-led alliance, persuaded President Jacob Zuma to announce a 0% fee increase? Probably still gallivanting in his Italian past.

Alex Mashilo, SACP spokesman Via e-mail