The money for universities is there – if you’re willing to look: DA
Democratic Alliance leader, Mmusi Maimane, says that there is money in the budget to fund tertiary education in South Africa.
Maimane was addressing an audience outside the Parliamentary Precinct during a DA march under the banner of #FundOurUniversities, on Wednesday.
His comments come after yet another night of violence in Johannesburg city central in which several vehicles were torched including a police van.
“We are told by many people that there are no solutions to this crisis because there simply is no common ground. I refuse to believe this.
“If some do believe this, then it is because they are listening to the wrong voices,” Maimane said.
“There are voices in this conflict who want you to believe that this is a problem with no solution. And then there are voices that argue that there simply is no money available to fund our universities.
“These are not the people we should be listening to,” the DA lead said, adding that there is money to be found in the budget.
Maimane suggested to minister of finance, Pravin Gordhan, ahead of his Medium-Term Budget Policy Statement on Wednesday, that the money is there ‘if you’re prepared to go looking for it’.
“It’s there in the endless bailouts we give to SAA. It’s there in the extravagant government perks like blue light brigades and new presidential jets,” he said.
Read: Try this new funding model for universities: DA
Maimane noted that earlier this year, the DA found R2.7 billion in the current budget that could be immediately reallocated to university funding.
“If the ANC is serious about solving this crisis, they can double our government subsidy of universities to bring them in line with other countries.
“They can properly fund our NSFAS system and ensure that the missing middle is found again, and the money paid back can be offered to a new intake of students,” he said.
Tuition fees account for 34% of all money universities get, amounting to R21.5 billion in 2015, according to StatsSA.
A further R26.8 billion comes from the state in the form of grants – while a further R4 billion is gained through donations.
Tuition fees fall about R10 billion short of covering universities’ staff costs alone – which amount to R31.4 billion. Were these funds (tuition fees) to fall away completely, universities would need to find that amount elsewhere.
Gordhan recently stated that for now, free higher education was not affordable. “Nobody can say when ultimately free education for everyone is on the table, but certainly free education for the poor is certainly on the table,” he said.
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