Hon House Chairperson, Minister Blade Nzimande and Deputy Minister Buti Manamela, hon members, officials, guests and fellow South Africans, good morning. Yesterday, on 11 July 2019 marked the 56th anniversary of the arrest of the MK High Command in Lilly's Farm. Comrades, Walter Sisulu, Govan Mbeki, Andrew Mlangeni, Raymond Mhlaba, Ahmed Kathrada, Elias Motsoaledi and Dennis Goldberg were arrested by the apartheid police and were tried together with Nelson Mandela in what came to be known as the Rivonia Trial.
I would like to dedicate my speech today to these towering giants of the people's revolution who dedicated their entire lives to the liberation of our people. It was the architect of apartheid, Hendrik Verwoerd, who remarked that, and I quote:
What is the use of teaching the Bantu child mathematics when he cannot use it in practice? There is no place for the Bantu in the European community above the level of certain forms of labour.
We have seen travelled and long and arduous journey in overcoming the system of colonial and apartheid education, founded on an absurd ideology as articulated by Verwoerd of white superiority complex, which sought to subjugate black people in the land of their birth. Today, we have got a higher education system that is founded on the foundations of equality, nonracialism, nonsexism that promotes access, equity and redress, that seeks to promote quality and compete against the best in the world.
Although significant progress has been achieved by the ANC-led government, much still needs to be done. However, there are some in our society who wants us to forget about our bitter past, about the Rivonia trialists who were persecuted and imprisoned for fighting for freedom, about the historical injustice and
systemic subjugation of black people in general and Africans in particular.
Some, like hon Bozzoli of the DA, will be so ahistorical today and devoid of human sensibilities as they are send to this platform to ridicule the progressive and developmental measures and instruments, like the National Student Financial Aid Scheme, NSFAS, which government utilises to facilitate access to higher education by poor black students, as nothing more but mere act of welfare. They do so because to them, the necessity to redress the imbalances of apartheid and colonial past is neither a priority not a historic task.
True to our historic mission, as articulated in the Freedom Charter, we must never be deterred in our commitment to ensuring that the doors of learning and culture are wide open. High on the agenda of the ANC-led government there has always been to expand access to post-school education and training, and ensure that there is geographical spread of higher education and training institutions across this country.
In this regard, in 2014, the government made a commitment to establish two universities in the democratic South Africa - Sol Plaatje University and the University of Mpumalanga. At that time, to some people this looked like a dream, the same dream of bullet trains and the smart city they are mocking today. However, to their disappointment, this dream has been realised.
Today, Sol Plaatje University's enrolment has grown from 124 students in 2014 to over 2 000 students in 2019, and the majority of students are from the Northern Cape. The university has introduced new postgraduate programmes. This university has appointed about 400 staff members. The 2 000 students would have been denied their constitutional rights to further education as espoused in section 29 of the Constitution if the university was not established.
The National Student Financial Aid Scheme is one of the key instruments utilised by the state in making higher education and training progressively available and accessible. Despite the challenges faced by the scheme over the years, it has played a very important transformation role in ensuring that many
students from poor historical background are able to access higher education.
The country has observed sad realities in the past where education and training infrastructure was vandalised due to challenges with disbursement of student allowances. Instead of engagements between the students and university management, some felt that the distraction of property was the best form of raising their voice. We condemn this method of protest in bringing grievances to the attention of authorities. Genuine student demands get to be soiled by act of criminality and hooliganism, often perpetrated by a small minority among the student population.
We would like to call upon all the stakeholders in higher education to engage in meaningful dialogue in order to resolve whatever challenges experienced. Damage to property is never a solution. It simply serves to deny future generations opportunities.
The decision by former Minister Pandor to put NSFAS under administration in August 2018 as a result of serious governance and management challenges is well supported. The new Minister should ensure that the new board members appointed to take over governance at NSFAS have the necessary skills and competency to take the scheme to greater heights.
The necessity to appreciate the privilege by those who are recipients of the support the state is providing to them, through NSFAS, is best illustrated by a quotation from one of the foremost African patriots and statesmen, a Tanzanian liberation icon, Mwalimu Julis Nyerere, when he wrote:
Those who receive this privilege therefore have a duty to repay the sacrifice which others have made. They are like a man who has been given all the food available in a starving village in order that he might have strength to bring the suppliers back from a distant place. If he takes the food and does not bring help to his brothers, he is a traitor. Similarly, if any of the young men and women who are given education by the people of this republic adopt attitudes of
superiority or fail to use their knowledge to help the development of this country, then they are betraying our union.
Higher education sector is matured and evolved over the years and it boosts universities that are highly esteemed globally. The recent Times Higher Education Emerging Economies University Rankings 2019 - ranking of the top universities -listed nine South African universities: University of Cape Town, UCT, Wits, Stellenbosch, University of KwaZulu-Natal, UKZN, University of Pretoria, University of Johannesburg, UJ, University of the Western Cape, UWC, Tshwane University of Technology and University of South Africa among the best rankings in emerging markets. Seven of these universities are ranked in the top 200.
Investment from both the government, through subsidies and other earmarked grants, and third stream funding from the private sector has made our university to provide excellent tuition, research and community engagement. Some of our universities are still struggling in terms of governance.
Section 27 of Higher Education Act bestowed governing powers to the university council. We are concerned as a portfolio committee, hon Minister, and we share our concern as well that some of the members of council are not putting the interest of the institution first.
In March 2019, the Minister placed the University of Fort Hare under administration. The administrator was tasked to take over the role powers and functions of the university council for a period of 12 months and conduct some investigation. This year also, in May, an independent assessor was appointed to the Vaal University of Technology to conduct some investigation and to advice the Minister.
These are worrying trends of collapse of governance hon Minister. We applaud the intervention by the government and we hope that anyone who is found to have done wrong will be held accountable. There must severe consequences for those who want to rod the future of our children. Restoring the culture of our universities as centres of learning and knowledge production and excellence must preoccupy the leadership of our government.
We are worried about the emerging trend where failures of governance system in universities seem to be predominantly taking place in historically disadvantaged institutions. We urge you to look at this phenomenon and to introduce proactive actions.
In conclusion, eradicating decades of old apartheid and colonial system of education is like what our icon, Tata Nelson Mandela refers to when he says, "After climbing a great hill, one only finds there are many more hills to climb." Thank you very much. The ANC supports the Budget Vote. [Applause.]