SACP blasts away at DA‚ AfriForum

The South African Communist Party on Tuesday launched an attack on AfriForum and the Democratic Alliance as it defended the policy stance of Higher Education Minister Blade Nzimande.

Writing in the party’s journal‚ Umsebenzi‚ which was issued on Tuesday‚ spokesperson Alex Mashilo‚ broached the issue of university autonomy‚ saying that if the state did not intervene in higher education‚ universities would remain untransformed.

Writing in his personal capacity‚ he attacked sectors that opposed the proposed switch to English at Stellenbosch University‚ and also laid into the DA’s shadow minister of Higher Education‚ Belinda Bozzoli‚ for opposing the draft Higher Education and Training Amendment Bill.

Bozzoli‚ according to Mashilo‚ said that “the draft bill is yet another step in the minister’s continued campaign of creeping state capture of higher education institutions”.

AfriForum‚ which has been vocal in its opposition to recent developments regarding the languages used at the university‚ was the unnamed target of Mashilo’s attack on that issue.

“Both the recommendation to change the language policy of the Stellenbosch University to English to cater for non-Afrikaans speakers and the draft Bill by Minister Nzimande must be applauded and supported‚” Mashilo argued.

“What we must do‚ as Minister Nzimande has said‚ is to tax the rich and the wealthy who appropriate the lion’s share of our economy and consume its education and training output to finance the progressive rollout of free higher‚ technical and vocational education and training for students from working class and poor families who cannot afford student fees.”