Pandor ‘sabotaging our march for free education’

A CANCELLED march to Pretoria has lifted the lid on a row between the ANC student chapter, the SA Students Congress and Science and Technology Minister Naledi Pandor.

Yesterday Sasco slammed Pandor, accusing her of sabotaging their march to the higher education and training offices on Tuesday to demand free education.

Sasco president Thabo Moloja claims the ANC education subcommittee, led by Pandor, told them on Monday not to go ahead with the march.

He said Pandor had been sidelining Sasco from attending committee meetings, which is why they decided to gatecrash one on Monday.

“It was clearly indicated that we must not march, but that we should instead speak to the department. It’s not like we don’t have access to the minister. We have spoken to them as early as February, but nothing has come out of it. We are left with nothing but protest.”

He said Pandor told them to stop being “too militant”.

“We will continue to be militant as long as there is no provision for free education and there’s no transformation in our sector. We cannot stop being militant because of our alignment with the ANC,” Moloja said.

One of the issues that Sasco wants to protest about is the formation of the new Ikusasa Financial Aid scheme aimed at helping students. “We believe we must stop the department from privatising NSFAS. You are merely donating the student market to the vultures that are the banks before they even graduate. NSFAS has always been a gateway for attaining free education,” he said.

ANC spokesman Zizi Kodwa said “if they (Sasco) have issues, they know where to find the ANC”. – Mercury Correspondent