The South African Federation of Trade Unions (SAFTU) has called for Higher Education Minister Blade Nzimande to resign.
The trade union released a statement, making reference to Nzimande's comments about students protesting for free education.
"In the middle of a battle that is being waged against financial exclusions in pursuit of free education, the ‘communist’ minister, Blade Nzimande, has recklessly likened the students’ efforts in exercising their democratic right to demand the basic education right, a “soap” opera.
"It is disconcerting for the minister to be calling the fight for free education and against financial exclusions a “Bold and Beautiful soapie”. For a minister who is the General Secretary of the Communist Party to make remarks that undermine the efforts of students to free quality education and underplay the need for such education is shameful." said SAFTU.
This is not the first time the Minister has come under fire for his comments. According to SAFTU's statement, in 2016 Minister Nzimande made a comment saying “students must fall”.
This was at the height of the Fees Must Fall protests that were aimed at making higher education free.
SAFTU wants Minister Nzimande to face consequences for looking down on the efforts of students.
"For belittling the genuine struggles for access to the basic service, education, SAFTU calls on the ‘communist’ Blade Nzimande to resign from his position, because he is now an agent of austerity beating students into accepting government’s programme of stealing their future. His fickle dismissive remarks equating the student struggle to a soap opera is reminiscent of one Marie Antoinette. The consequences of such irresponsible comments may yet come to haunt him." said SAFTU.
Minister Nzimande has called for student protests to come to an end. The protests began in early March, as students raised their frustrations with finding themselves in ongoing student debt.
The Minister is afraid that the protests will lead to more disruptions to the academic year, which was already made shorter due to the lockdown.
"I must say we are quite anxious. The shutdown must be called off as soon as possible because we are worried that the academic year is already short and lest make use of all the opportunities that we have, all sides, that's what I've been adding as minister." said Nzimande.
He said government is now in the process of working on a plan to identify students who owe debt. This will help government identify ways the issue of student debt can be resolved.
SAFTU Calls For Nzimande To Step Down
The South African Federation of Trade Unions (SAFTU) has called for Higher Education Minister Blade Nzimande to resign.
Advertisement
Related Articles
Minister Higher Education Blade Nzimande recently revealed that of every one hundred children who begin Grade 1, only twelve will enrol at a university and half will complete a qualification. Not all of those who graduate will secure employment.
The high rate of young people who are unemployed, not enrolled in education or training programmes is a concern for South Africa's higher education department. The department believes that skills development is key to solving this crisis.
Students at a South African University are now facing uncertain times after the institution suspended all academic activities indefinitely and are calling for students to leave residence.
The Higher Education Department is committed to playing its role to reducing unemployment in South Africa and has announced it will provide millions in funding for community colleges to upskill adults in the country.
The Minister of Higher Education has sent a stern warning to principals of Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) colleges regarding their mandate to promote the placement of students.
Advertisement
Advertisement
Most Popular Articles Today
Companies need to ensure greater customer experiences by powering end-to-end customer engagements across the entire customer journey to stay ahead of the competition.
South African power utility Eskom has announced stage 6 loadshedding will commence at 4 PM on Tuesday. Here’s what it means for the country.
Seeing someone get prosecuted for a crime often serves as a warning to others that the law will catch up to you eventually. This warning has been taken by some employers as they begin returning funds to the Unemployment Insurance Fund (UIF).
Mentors and role models empower people to live a certain way and influence the important decisions they make in their lives. Although the two terms “role models” and “mentors” are used interchangeably, there are distinct differences and similarities.
In November 2021, the Minister of Home Affairs announced that the Zimbabwean Exemption Permit (ZEP) will be terminated. The implications of this decision are set to impact more than 100 000 Zimbabwean citizens living in South Africa.
Advertisement
Other People Were Also Interested In
After months of waiting, beneficiaries of the Social Relief of Distress (SRD) grant found out that they will soon receive outstanding grant payments for successful reconsideration requests. This means outstanding payments for June and the backlog related to April and May will also be addressed.
As the month of June begins, approved beneficiaries of the Social Relief of Distress (SRD) R350 grant will qualify for a new round of payments. However, some grant beneficiaries have not been paid for the past two months.
It has been almost three months since unemployed individuals in South Africa received the crucial R350 grant. This is due to the rules around the grant’s disbursement changing after the National State of Disaster was lifted.
After almost a year of waiting, beneficiaries of the R350 grant could finally have access to their money. This follows an announcement stating that the process that was preventing reconsideration request payments has been concluded.
It was recently revealed that many of the Social Relief of Distress (SRD) R350 grant requirements were changed. This means that some individuals who previously benefited from the grant no longer qualify for the crucial relief mechanism.
Advertisement