Mantashe accuses university management of trying to exclude the poor
ANC secretary general Gwede Mantashe on Thursday said the demand of protesting students for university fees not to be raised next year was reasonable and accused university councils and vice-chancellors of seeking to exclude the poor from tertiary education.
“This demand is reasonable and understandable in view of the high costs of tertiary education. These costs are prohibitive to both state and privately funded students,” Mantashe said in a a statement issued by the ruling party.
He said the problem was that government was expected to subsidise students while universities abused their autonomy to set fees.
“The consequence of this is that fewer students will access higher education. This is a function of a hybrid system where the state is expected to fund higher education whilst at the same time universities are autonomous.”
Mantashe singled out Wits vice-chancellor Adam Habib for criticism, saying he had deepened the crisis that swept from campuses to Parliament on Wednesday.
“He, like all vice chancellors, must take responsibility for the decisions they take.”
Mantashe said the ANC condemned “unilateral decision-making by some institutions” to raise fees for the next academic year.
“The ANC affirms its opposition to any exclusionary policies by institutions of higher learning, especially if those who bear the brunt of such marginalization [are] children of the poor and the working class… No sooner had the government increased the amount apportioned to NFSAS, the university management decided to increase fees. Their project is clearly the intention to exclude the poor,” he said.
“The challenges being raised by students are not exaggerated. Historical racial inequalities are emphasized and escalating costs have become another source of exclusion of the poor and children of the working class.”
In the meanwhile, ANC chief whip Stone Sizani accused police who removed students from the parliamentary precinct after they forced their way in while Finance Minister Nhlanhla Nene was delivering his medium-term budget policy statement of using excessive force.
“We have once again witnessed disproportionate and unnecessary use of force by police against students at Parliament and at other places such as Rhodes University and Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University.
Sizani went on to blame the breach on the police, who fired stun grenades at rioting students.
“The situation at Parliament, in particular, could have been avoided had the precincts of the institution been guarded properly by the police… The police laxity regarding the manning of Parliament gates ended with the unnecessarily chaotic situation of students storming the precincts, catching the police back footed and resorting to the use of stun grenades. The situation that played out was thus completely unnecessary and could have been avoided.”
Sizani also expressed support for the students’ cause and called for all those arrested to be released immediately. He termed charges levelled at them, which initially included treason, outrageous.
“The students’ legitimate and valid protests for access to education have been relatively peaceful, and we thus reject any heavy-handed use of force, including arrests, to quell them. We call for the immediate release of all arrested students and the unconditional dropping of all outrageous charges against them.” - ANA
(File photo: Gallo Images)