Fees commission report set to be released this week

Spokesperson Bongani Nqulunga says the president delayed the release of the report because of consultation processes with relevant ministries implicated in the report findings. The consultations are set to wrap up this week and the report will be released immediately after the consultations conclude.

''The presidency is now finalising the processing of the report, which requires, among other things, that the presidency consults with relevant ministers to ensure that government is ready to implement the president decision.''

''The consultations with the relevant ministries is at advanced stage and it is expected that it will be finalised during the course of next week,'' Ngulunga says.

This comes after renewed protests at the University of Cape Town (UCT), Cape Peninsula University of Technology (CPUT) and the University of the Free State (UFS), where students are demanding the immediate release of the report.

Last week the University of Free State (UFS) confirmed that a building at the Bloemfontein campus was set alight.

Meanwhile, Wits' Student Representative Council (SRC) said they are collaborating with other student leaders from various institutions of higher learning to plan a national day of action in order to intensify the calls for the release of the much-anticipated report.

''This national day of action plans to reiterate our grivances to the government for delaying the release of the report, it has been two years since the commission has been set up and still we've heard nothing from the president,” said Wits' SRC General Secretary, Kaamil Ali.

Ali also added that the current student protests in Cape Town and Free State respectively, are not yielding any results.

Besides students intensifying their call for free education and the immediate release of the report into the fees commission, DA leader Mmumis Maimane has also made similar calls, urging the president to urgently release the report. Maimane was speaking at the party's Free State elective conference in Thaba Nchu on Saturday. The province has since arrested 40 UFS students on charges related to protest action at the university.

Maimane said  the DA will make sure that poor, academically deserving students recieve free tertiary education irrespective of the commission's findings.

The president received the final report from the commission on August 30.