By Lehlohonolo Lehana.
The South African Students Congress (SASCO) is calling for the immediate removal of the embattled Higher Education minister Dr Nobuhle Nkabane.
Nkabane has been under pressure for “misleading” parliament by providing false information about the procedure of appointing the Seta chairs – a list dominated by African National Congress (ANC) cadres.
Sasco briefed the media on Sunday to discuss the state of the Higher Education Ministry, NSFAS, and the Sector Education and Training Authority (SETA).
SASCO president Alungile Kamtshe said they would spend the next 30 days setting out seven key grievances against the minister.
The crisis facing students today is not incidental. It is the direct result of poor governance by the Department of Higher Education and Training and the opportunistic, malicious, and poor bourgeoisie agenda by the university and college management.”
“It is our contention that DHET, led by Minister Nobuhle Nkabane, within the government of national unity, has consistently failed to deliver on its most basic responsibilities, from the catastrophic delays in NSFAS first disbursements to the flawed appointment of the boards of strategic entities meant to accelerate access to training and higher education, “Kamtshe said.
“Kamtshe said the failures also include the chronic underfunding of institutions that serve the children of the working class and the poor.
Kamtshe urged that the ongoing investigation not stall essential SETA board appointments, warning that delays grant unchecked powers to SETA executives.
“SASCO believes that the investigation should not halt the reopening of the SETA board chairpersons, every minute that there is a delay in appointing these boards, it provides SETA executives with unfitted powers due to minimal accountability.”
SASCO also wants an immediate overhaul of the newly appointed NSFAS board, citing corruption and mismanagement.
While Nkabane defended her appointees as qualified professionals with experience in finance, law, engineering, and governance, Kamtshe argued that the appointments were done improperly.
“We declare that, that board is illegal considering that its appointment has been flawed throughout. As of today, the board of NSFAS is taking critical decisions but it has been appointed illegally – it’s initially appointment has about 12 people who did not come from the section of the students.”