SACP Gauteng commends the Ministry of Higher Education Allocation of R1 Billion to beef up NSFAS
1 February 2014
The SACP Gauteng Province welcomes and applauds the intervention by the Minister of Higher Education Dr. Blade Nzimande and government led by President Jacob Zuma by granting an additional whopping R1billion to the National Student Financial Aid Scheme.
This allocation is of historic significance and will readily help the biggest proportion of needy working class children to date, to further continue their studies in 2014 and beyond.
South Africa is amongst the 55 highest-ranking countries in terms of education spending as a percentage of GPD. This ranking is in spite of South Africas post apartheid economic structure which is incomparable to any other country in the world and without any precedent in the damage of the legacy of colonialism of a special type in education.
The SACP believes that the intervention will go a long way to make education accessible to many working-class families that would otherwise have been excluded from higher education.
We now call on all tertiary education stakeholders, in particular, management, councils and revolutionary student organisations to appreciate this decisive intervention and allow academic activities to proceed without further delays.
Our party believes that the creation of a dedicated state capacity focussed on higher education is a qualitative advance that calls for a creative, dynamic and strategic approach to the historic task of the transformation of the sector.
In our view, it is important that revolutionary forces in higher education, in particular the revolutionary student and trade union movement, reorients, adapts and rethink its strategic and tactical approaches in engaging with the transformation of the higher education sector, and redefining relations with the Ministry as a political leadership of the sector.
The SACP believes that the continued failure to rise to the challenge, and take full advantage of the opportunity provided by the creation of a dedicated state capacity may sustain tactical and strategic approaches that are obsolete, stale and orthodox, thus tailing far behind qualitative developments and radically changed conditions.
The creation of a dedicated and focussed state capacity for higher education fulfils one of the most historic, profound and long standing demand of revolutionary forces in this sector. A tactical and strategic transition is therefore an absolute necessity.
We strongly believe that a correct and appropriate rethink and re-orientation of the strategic and tactical approach will give revolutionary forces in higher education an immense opportunity for maximum unity and decisive action to move this sector forward. This will certainly isolate and defeat reactionary management and council structures that seeks to perpetuate divide and rule, weaken revolutionary forces in the interest of the privileged elite and monopoly capital.
The SACP is convinced that unity and complementary relations between revolutionary forces in higher education and the Ministry as the political leadership constitute the best alternative to take the National Democratic Revolution and country forward. This is the best alternative compared to the permanently antagonistic and hostile relations that merely plays into the hands of the reactionary and conservative management and councils of this institutions and merely serve to further sustain past colonial and class relations.
We applaud the higher education ministry for its full commitment to frank, democratic and comradely engagements, and the commitment to continue with its open door policy to all stakeholders in the sector and beyond.
Issued on behalf of the SACP Gauteng Province
Contact: Mamabolo Jacob, Provincial Secretary, 082 884 1868,
SACP Spokesperson: Lucian Segami: 079 522 0098
