Malema criticises new universities

The planned initial enrolment of 290 students at two new universities was ridiculous, Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) leader Julius Malema said on Thursday.

   

"It is no secret that the worsening situation of unemployment is directly linked to the question of higher education, which has been limited and denied to the black child for centuries," he said in Johannesburg.

   

Malema was briefing reporters on the outcomes of the EFF's recent national assembly. He said the building of more universities in South Africa, with a focus on mass education, training, and research, was the only solution.

   

The target of having 20,000 students in 10 years reflected a lack of commitment to transform the country's unjust past.

   

"The way the government has started with these universities is the same way the apartheid government started the University of Fort Hare, confirming attitudes when it comes to education of the black child," Malema said.

   

President Jacob Zuma announced last week that two new universities -- in Mpumalanga and the Northern Cape -- would begin operating next year. They would initially take fewer than 200 students each, Zuma said.

   

-Sapa