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Daily Maverick
06-07-2025
- Politics
- Daily Maverick
Principled protest or performative politics? The DA's budget vote and the real risks to higher education
On 3 July 2025, Parliament debated and voted on the budget allocation for the Department of Higher Education and Training. At face value, it was a routine step in the national fiscal calendar. In reality, it became a stage for a high-stakes political performance — one in which the Democratic Alliance (DA), a key player in the newly formed Government of National Unity (GNU), chose to oppose the Higher Education budget vote, citing Minister Nobuhle Nkabane's alleged misconduct in Sector Education and Training Authority (Seta) appointments and misrepresentation to Parliament. The DA's decision may appear principled. After all, allegations of dishonesty in the appointment of public officials are serious and should be investigated with the gravity they deserve. But when weighed against its broader actions — supporting the Appropriation Bill, backing the Divisions of Revenue Bill, and remaining firmly embedded in the GNU — its opposition begins to look more like a carefully choreographed act than a genuine stand for accountability. A convenient dissonance This dissonance is at the heart of the matter. The DA claims it cannot, in good conscience, support a budget administered by a minister it deems untrustworthy. Yet it supports the very bills that enable that same budget to exist. It lays criminal charges, stages high-profile appearances at police stations, and calls for dismissals — all while continuing to co-govern with the very figures it accuses. It denounces cadre deployment but offers little clarity on how it would democratise governance without retreating into technocracy. In a rare and probably never to be seen moment of striking clarity, EFF MP Sihle Lonzi captured the contradiction during the parliamentary debate succinctly: the DA was not voting against the budget for moral reasons — it was engaging in political theatre. It wanted to protest against the firing of its own deputy minister more than it wanted to reform the education system. This is not to diminish the need for transparency or integrity in higher education governance. If our minister misled Parliament or failed to act within ethical and procedural norms, she must account. The principle of accountability must apply equally and without political convenience. But it is precisely because of the gravity of these principles that they should not be deployed as tactical weapons in what has become a rapidly unravelling unity experiment. The real stakes: students, workers and institutions What gets lost in this posturing are the very real consequences for students, workers, and institutions. The 2025/26 budget vote allocated: R96-billion to universities. R14-billion to Technical and Vocational Education and Training colleges. 7-billion to the National Student Financial Aid Scheme — supporting millions of poor and working-class students. It included resources to refurbish Giyani College, build new campuses in mining towns, and expand Centres of Specialisation in TVETs. It committed funds for student housing, campus safety, and infrastructure upgrades in a sector strained by overcrowding, underfunding, and social unrest. Opposing this budget, not for its content but to symbolically target the minister, is not just disingenuous — it is dangerous. It delays service delivery, unsettles institutions already grappling with instability, and undermines the very transformation the DA claims to support. And it does so without offering a credible alternative. Is the DA suggesting that the budget be collapsed and re-tabled under another minister? That students be denied allowances until the political clean-up is complete? That Technical and Vocational Education and Training expansions wait until internal GNU tensions are resolved? This is the risk of performative opposition: it prioritises narrative over necessity. Judicial luxuries and democratic realities There's also a class dimension to this moment. Helen Zille's symbolic march to the police station, dragging her party MP to lay charges, was intended to show resolve. But it also unintentionally revealed a deep inequality in access to justice. How many of the students who rely on this budget have the same legal recourse? How many workers on underfunded campuses can march their grievances into the same institutions with the same certainty of being heard? The DA's self-image as a party of clean governance must confront this paradox: the performance of moral superiority can, at times, obscure the impact of its own decisions. Opposing a budget that funds student meals, campus safety, housing, and worker wages cannot be the righteous act it is presented to be. From symbolism to substance If the DA wishes to be taken seriously as a party of national leadership, it must learn to distinguish between principled dissent and symbolic sabotage. South Africa needs opposition that strengthens governance, not that undermines service delivery for spectacle. It must not fall into the trap of simple-minded populism: governing with one hand while campaigning with the other. At the same time, the GNU cannot become a fragile house of mirrors — one where parties selectively engage depending on which faction is being challenged. Unity must not mean uniformity, but nor can it survive hypocrisy. If this coalition is to endure and serve the nation meaningfully, its members must honour both accountability and responsibility. There is space for critique, investigation, and reform — but there is no space for empty performance when the stakes are this high. There is no theatre more dangerous than that which mistakes its script for reality. South Africa's higher education system is not a stage — it is a lifeline. It deserves more than posturing. It deserves principled, pragmatic governance. That is what students, workers, and our national development agenda demand. Anything less is a betrayal. DM
Daily Maverick
03-07-2025
- Business
- Daily Maverick
Nkabane defends R142bn education budget amid corruption allegations and opposition rejection
Minister of Higher Education and Training Nobuhle Nkabane says her budget is a step towards improving the post-school education and training sector. In a robust parliamentary debate, opposition parties, including the ANC's main Government of National Unity partner, the Democratic Alliance, were vocal in rejecting the Higher Education and Training budget on Thursday, 3 June 2025. Minister of Higher Education and Training Dr Nobuhle Nkabane's budget proposals for 2025/26 came under fire over a lack of trust in her and her department. This was mainly due to controversial appointments in the Sector Education and Training Authorities (Setas) and issues with the National Student Financial Aid Scheme, NSFAS. Nkabane has been under fire over her controversial Seta board appointments, along with a panel she established that raised concerns after Nkabane called it 'independent', while it consisted of people who worked in her department. She also named advocate Terry Motau as chairperson of the panel, which Motau slammed as false, leading to Nkabane issuing an apology. Budget tabled Nkabane said she had dedicated the budget to those within education who had recently been killed, such as Sisonke Mbalekwa and Sinethemba Mpambane, both from Walter Sisulu University (WSU). The budget allocation for the current financial year is R142.4-billion, of which Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) colleges are to receive R14-billion. The combined allocation for the Setas and the National Skills Fund is R26-billion. NSFAS funding rises to R48.7-billion this year. Universities will receive R96-billion this year, while Nkabane acknowledged a R1.4-billion deficit in the universities' budget as a result of US funding cuts. She said that the NSFAS budget would 'not [be] sufficient to meet the growing demand for access to higher education'. Nkabane said the budget was a step towards improving the efficiency and performance of the post-school education and training (PSET) system. She said NSFAS was in the process of cancelling the more than R2-million rental contract for its Cape Town office. In addition, 'NSFAS conducted a comprehensive legal review on the contracts of student accommodation intermediaries who are charging 5% fees. We are waiting for a final report for us to decide in this regard. This is our commitment to clean governance, accountability and transparency, and to root out any potential corruption and maladministration in PSET,' said Nkabane. Chairperson of the parliamentary committee on higher education, Tebogo Letsie (ANC), supported Nkabane's budget. Letsie said the budget was a political commitment rooted in the Freedom Charter and shaped by the developmental vision of the National Development Plan. Those who did not support the budget 'will be saying to you that your poor child must not go to school, must not go to university because they are not programming their future… They must be saying that all the owners of properties must lose their properties. They will be saying all workers in our universities, our colleges and everywhere else must go home because those universities and student colleges must close down.' Rejection The Democratic Alliance rejected the budget. The party's Karabo Khakhau said 'the ANC wants the people of this republic to believe that a fight against corruption is a fight against the future of this country… The real enemy of progress against young people here is Minister Nkabane. It is the ANC that is protecting her and corruption. It is President Ramaphosa for refusing to fire her… I dare you: do the right thing in honour of these people (Mbalekwa and Mpambane) — resign.' Sihle Lonzi (EFF) also rejected Nkabane's budget, but said that the DA and the ANC were in a 'fake fight'. According to Lonzi, the DA's narrative was a deliberate distortion at best or sheer ignorance at worst. 'The state of student accommodation in South Africa is not only inhumane; it's gross negligence… Why can you not develop an efficient payment system that will pay students, institutions, and accommodations directly… You must blacklist corrupt board members, Minister. You must blacklist corrupt CEOs,' demanded Lonzi. Sihle Ngubane (MK party) rejected the budget and called out the minister for saying it was dedicated to those who had died, because 'the department, under the minister, and its negligence, caused the death of this student (Mbolekwa),' said Ngubane. 'When you (Nkabane) say drive inclusive growth and job creation, there is no inclusive growth in this government, there is no economy, and there is nothing,' said Ngubane. Other parties such as Al Jama-ah, the Inkatha Freedom Party, the Patriotic Alliance, Build One South Africa and Rise Mzansi supported the budget. When Deputy Minister of Higher Education and Training and DA member, Mimmy Gondwe, took the stand, she was immediately asked by the EFF's Lonzi whether she supported the budget. Gondwe did not reply directly, but instead highlighted numerous interventions, oversight visits, partnerships, and student-centred initiatives undertaken under her leadership since July 2024. She emphasised that the budget had to reflect a determination to build an ethical and inclusive education system. DM
Daily Maverick
02-07-2025
- Politics
- Daily Maverick
DA and opposition parties reject Higher Education Minister Nkabane's budget
'It is time for President Ramaphosa to fire Minister Nkabane and clean up the ANC's criminal network from the heart of Parliament,' said the DA's Jeanne Adriaanse in response to the budget. Higher Education Minister Nobuhle Nkabane on Tuesday accused the DA, MK party and EFF of 'rejecting the transformation of the post-school education and training sector in South Africa' after they rejected her proposed budget for the Department of Higher Education and Training. Nkabane presented her department's budget vote speech for the 2025/26 financial year at the National Council of Provinces. She said the budget would improve the efficiency and performance of South Africa's post-school education and training system. Earlier on Tuesday, the DA — a member of the Government of National Unity — opened a criminal case against Nkabane for fraud and statutory offences under section 26 of the Powers, Privileges and Immunities of Parliament and Provincial Legislature Act 4 of 2004. Nkabane's budget covered key higher education sectors. In terms of it, TVET colleges are to receive R14-billion, up from R13.1-billion last year. The combined allocation for Sector Education and Training Authorities and the National Skills Fund is R26-billion. National Student Financial Aid Scheme (NSFAS) funding rises to R48.7-billion this year, with further increases planned in the coming years. University education rises from R91.7-billion in 2024 to R96-billion this year alone. Nkabane acknowledged that there was a R1.4-billion deficit in the universities budget and said that the NSFAS budget would 'not [be] sufficient to meet the growing demand for access to higher education. 'We continue to seek efficient ways of allocating limited resources to ensure that no deserving learner is left behind,' she said. Opposition After Nkabane presented her budget, the DA's Jeanne Adriaanse wasted no time in shooting it down when she was allowed to respond. 'It is time for President Ramaphosa to fire Minister Nkabane and clean up the ANC's criminal network from the heart of Parliament… Another failure in this minister's dossier is a recent scandal involving the appointment of ANC-connected individuals to the Sector Education and Training Authority. The minister brazenly appointed the comrades to these crucial roles and acted like they were in employment, intending to serve political interests rather than the public good. 'When this list was leaked, the minister smoothly revoked these appointments, attempting to cover her tracks. But the dissension did not go unanswered,' said Adriaanse. The EFF's Laetitia Arries said, 'We reject the budget, minister… You have failed to account for appointments that are glaring examples of political patronage, where state institutions intended to empower youth and workers are turned into ANC deployment zones for local cadres and family members of the ruling elite. 'Year in and year out, this department is … always inadequately prepared to receive thousands of students at the start of the academic year, while the missing middle students who don't qualify for NSFAS and can't afford tuition are often left without support.' The MK party rejected the budget for similar reasons to those of the DA and EFF. The Patriotic Alliance's Bino Farmer said the party supported the budget and that higher education should be a driver of local development. He, however, warned the minister not to do wrong. In response, Nkabane said, 'Those who are rejecting the budget are rejecting the transformation of the post-school education and training sector in South Africa. They are not rejecting the budget of Nobuhle Nkabane.' Nkabane is set to appear at the Good Hope Chambers on Thursday, 3 June 2025, for the debate on the budget. The spokesperson for Higher Education and Training, Camagwini Mavovana, said the minister was aware of the DA's criminal case against her, but was focused on delivering tangible outcomes for young people. DM
Daily Maverick
06-05-2025
- Politics
- Daily Maverick
Education department needs R46bn for new classrooms and toilets at public schools
The Department of Basic Education says it needs R32bn to build new classrooms in 8,222 schools and an additional R14bn to construct toilets at 13,385 schools. On Tuesday, the minister of basic education, Siviwe Gwarube, appeared before Parliament's Portfolio Committee on Basic Education to provide an update on the conditions at South Africa's public schools. Gwarube revealed that 90% of 22,381 schools were in fair, very good or good condition. Eight percent were in poor condition, and 2% in very poor condition. She said that 8,222 schools needed new classrooms, and 13,485 additional toilets needed to be constructed. 'We are talking about more than just buildings and new schools; we have a new phenomenon of overcrowded classrooms … or schools with not enough classrooms, and … this is something that we really need to resolve. Over 8,222 schools still require additional classrooms, and that is estimated at R32-billion.' She continued: '13,485 schools require additional toilets to cope with the rising number of learners … and that would require about R14-billion.' The Department of Basic Education (DBE) said that for the current financial year, it had only R15,285,220 for the Education Infrastructure Grant, which was less than what was needed to resolve these issues. Daily Maverick previously reported that in the face of overwhelming workloads, safety concerns and a lack of support, many teachers are reconsidering their future in the profession. Safe sanitation After missing the deadline to eradicate pit toilets by 31 March, the DBE told the committee that the Sanitation Appropriate for Education (Safe) programme, which was launched in 2018 to provide adequate sanitation facilities at schools, would be terminated at the end of this financial year. The programme has eradicated 3,235 pit toilets, with 137 still to be attended to. Ramasedi Mafoko, the acting chief director for infrastructure at the DBE, said, 'As the Safe initiative is coming to an end, we are no longer taking any new projects; we will give them over to the provincial education departments with a clear instruction that sanitation is an immediate priority. So any pit latrines identified are given over to the province.' The DBE told the committee that 206 schools out of 22,381 had inappropriate structures, referring to ageing structures, schools built of mud or those that need repairing. Turning to its successes, the DBE said it had helped schools get increased access to water and electricity, had built 1,344 new schools and provided 12,797 schools with libraries. DM
