All eyes will be on Finance Minister Nhlanhla Nene today to see where he will find the money to pay for the agreement to limit university fee increases to only 6% next year.Nene, who has very little fiscal manoeuvring space as it is, will deliver his medium-term budget policy statement in parliament this afternoon.
As if he did not have enough competing pressures to contend with, Higher Education and Training Minister Blade Nzimande and President Jacob Zuma handed him another headache yesterday by agreeing in principle to a consumer price index related increase not exceeding 6% for university fees next year.
The state will find the rest of the money to pay for increasing costs at universities, Nzimande said.
He was speaking after negotiations between the government, university vice-chancellors, chairs of university councils and student leaders in Cape Town, following days of unrest at universities across the country where student protests closed main roads of major cities and campuses.
Nzimande begged students, who are demanding free education, to accept the compromise, saying South Africa could not afford imminent university examinations not to take place.
Whether the 6% offer will be accepted by students is not a given, with some students already refusing any fee increases whatsoever.
The University of the Witwatersrand has said it will only reopen on Monday. The protest movement dubbed #FeesMustFall on Twitter began at Wits‚ which had proposed a 10.5% fee hike. In a statement late yesterday afternoon‚ Wits University acknowledged there has been a call for a national day of solidarity to take place today.
“Wits also recognises the need to allow time for the necessary negotiations to take place to resolve the current situation. In order to ensure the safety and security of staff and students‚ the executive management has decided to suspend all university activities for the remainder of this week.”
Rhodes University yesterday officially declared it would close for a third consecutive day today in solidarity with student and staff protest action against the shortage of funding in higher education.
While Rhodes aligned itself directly with the student and staff protest action, the University of Cape Town put itself in confrontation with its protesting students by seeking a high court interdict to prevent them from barricading entrances, disrupting other “normal” university activities or resorting to violence.
UCT yesterday confirmed that its campuses were closed for a second day due to protesters barricading access roads presenting “a safety and security risk to staff and students”.
Acting vice-chancellor Professor Francis Petersen said while UCT was “continuing to attempt to create a dialogue with the protesters and will continue to do so… the situation yesterday and today is very‚ very problematic for us”.
He confirmed that 24 protesters had been arrested by police “for setting up barricades… in breach of the court order”.
Stellenbosch University authorities also obtained a court interdict to bar protests, as students gathered in groups on its campus east of Cape Town.
At the University of Fort Hare in Alice, students demanded an immediate zero percent increase during an emotional outdoor exchange with Vice-Chancellor Mvuyo Tom. Tom listened and he and his management promised to pay students’ outstanding NSAFAS and bursary money.
Tom and his team of 15 managers were encircled by about 1000 students who listened to the combative exchange between SRC members and the administration.
The crowd crept closer to Tom as he kept on saying every issue related to fees would be decided in the correct statutes of UFH.
In Grahamstown, while aligning itself with the protesters, Rhodes University management also called for students to respect one another.
“The University will be in solidarity with the higher education sector as students and staff embark nationwide on protest action against the shortage of funding in higher education,” said media relations officer Catherine Deiner.
Although the number of protesters had dwindled significantly since Monday when East London public order police opened fire on hundreds of students at nearby East Cape Midlands College, organisers said the action would intensify today as part of the national campaign against high fees. Students sitting at roadblocks in the scorching midday sun were brought food parcels, water and even ice-creams by sympathetic staff and concerned residents.
Big standoff in fees row
Nene, who has very little fiscal manoeuvring space as it is, will deliver his medium-term budget policy statement in parliament this afternoon.
As if he did not have enough competing pressures to contend with, Higher Education and Training Minister Blade Nzimande and President Jacob Zuma handed him another headache yesterday by agreeing in principle to a consumer price index related increase not exceeding 6% for university fees next year.
The state will find the rest of the money to pay for increasing costs at universities, Nzimande said.
He was speaking after negotiations between the government, university vice-chancellors, chairs of university councils and student leaders in Cape Town, following days of unrest at universities across the country where student protests closed main roads of major cities and campuses.
Nzimande begged students, who are demanding free education, to accept the compromise, saying South Africa could not afford imminent university examinations not to take place.
Whether the 6% offer will be accepted by students is not a given, with some students already refusing any fee increases whatsoever.
The University of the Witwatersrand has said it will only reopen on Monday. The protest movement dubbed #FeesMustFall on Twitter began at Wits‚ which had proposed a 10.5% fee hike. In a statement late yesterday afternoon‚ Wits University acknowledged there has been a call for a national day of solidarity to take place today.
“Wits also recognises the need to allow time for the necessary negotiations to take place to resolve the current situation. In order to ensure the safety and security of staff and students‚ the executive management has decided to suspend all university activities for the remainder of this week.”
Rhodes University yesterday officially declared it would close for a third consecutive day today in solidarity with student and staff protest action against the shortage of funding in higher education.
While Rhodes aligned itself directly with the student and staff protest action, the University of Cape Town put itself in confrontation with its protesting students by seeking a high court interdict to prevent them from barricading entrances, disrupting other “normal” university activities or resorting to violence.
UCT yesterday confirmed that its campuses were closed for a second day due to protesters barricading access roads presenting “a safety and security risk to staff and students”.
Acting vice-chancellor Professor Francis Petersen said while UCT was “continuing to attempt to create a dialogue with the protesters and will continue to do so… the situation yesterday and today is very‚ very problematic for us”.
He confirmed that 24 protesters had been arrested by police “for setting up barricades… in breach of the court order”.
Stellenbosch University authorities also obtained a court interdict to bar protests, as students gathered in groups on its campus east of Cape Town.
At the University of Fort Hare in Alice, students demanded an immediate zero percent increase during an emotional outdoor exchange with Vice-Chancellor Mvuyo Tom. Tom listened and he and his management promised to pay students’ outstanding NSAFAS and bursary money.
Tom and his team of 15 managers were encircled by about 1000 students who listened to the combative exchange between SRC members and the administration.
The crowd crept closer to Tom as he kept on saying every issue related to fees would be decided in the correct statutes of UFH.
In Grahamstown, while aligning itself with the protesters, Rhodes University management also called for students to respect one another.
“The University will be in solidarity with the higher education sector as students and staff embark nationwide on protest action against the shortage of funding in higher education,” said media relations officer Catherine Deiner.
Although the number of protesters had dwindled significantly since Monday when East London public order police opened fire on hundreds of students at nearby East Cape Midlands College, organisers said the action would intensify today as part of the national campaign against high fees. Students sitting at roadblocks in the scorching midday sun were brought food parcels, water and even ice-creams by sympathetic staff and concerned residents.
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