In 2015, South African universities saw the rise of student movements, campaigning for greater economic and racial equality in higher education.
Over the next few years, #RhodesMustFall and the subsequent #FeesMustFall protests occurred nationwide, often using destructive means to fight what they identified as institutionalised violence and racism in the university system.
Now, three years later, and we’re starting to see the long-term effects of the student protests. The initial estimate of the cost to repair the damage done to SA universities back in 2016, was R600 million.
Now, BusinessDay reports that:
The damage caused by protesting students in the Fees Must Fall movement has cost universities more than R786m, equivalent to the annual state subsidy provided to a small university, it emerged in parliament on Tuesday.
In a detailed written reply to questions posed by the DA, higher education and training minister Naledi Pandor spelt out the destruction wrought to universities over a three-year period, cataloguing how laboratories, libraries and buildings were set alight and vandalised on campuses across the country.
The financial implications of the damage done to universities are dire, as money that would have gone to improving universities will now be used to repair them.
DA shadow minister of higher education and training Belinda Bozzoli said universities got on average a billion rand each per year from the state, and a smaller university would typically get a subsidy of about R800m. That figure would have built at least two new residences for students at a poorer university, or fund thousands of student’s expenses, she said.
Bazzoli also lamented the aggression and violence that got progressively worse as the protests accelerated over the past three years:
“The aggression — ranging from intimidation of other people, students and staff, through to looting of university property, right down to burning down buildings such as bookshops, lecture halls and residences — is a sign of very serious breakdown in the social contract, and testimony to the fact that our institutions of learning have become unpleasant and often frightening places to learn and teach.”
Universities SA CEO, Ahmed Bawa, says that “the costs to universities have been astronomical”. He continues:
“I suspect the costs are much more substantial, as these figures do not include the costs of additional security or the loss of study time,” he said.
“This period has damaged institutions, but we are confident the quality of education is still at a decent level,” he said, while conceding that some of the infrastructure that had been destroyed, such as libraries, was virtually impossible to replace.
For the time being, the protests have ceased at the top five academic institutions in the country, although protests over financial aid and inadequate accommodation continue, especially at the rural and disadvantaged institutions.
[source:businessday]
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