The subsidized offer made by the state to students and parents was reasonable. Parents who earn above the R600 000 will technically subsidize university for those earning less is reasonable. This is the South African norm as the upper class has and will always subsidize the working class.
The working class gets subsidized electricity, water, housing and do not pay rates. When poor teens get pregnant she gets a state subsidy and free health care at municipal clinics and state hospitals.
The point is, while there is corruption and fruitless expenditure by the state, our government has done a great deal for our poor locals. We have the highest living standard in Africa and our poor live better than most Asians. That’s why we have economic migrants from across Africa and Asia who will do whatever to live in South Africa. In India alone there are 250 million that exist in abject poverty.
While we all agree that university fees are too high, stopping the academic year is not an option. We cannot have a few students take control of institutions that in truth belong to taxpayers. It is the middle and upper class that pays for the up-keep of everything. some gratitude is thus required.
All universities under siege must follow the example of Stellenbosch University. Do not take any nonsense from protestors and ensure that the majority of students are permitted to complete the 2016 academic year. These majority students paid their fees and have a right to their education.
In the words of the wise, no government can be everything to everyone. At some point, reality must overtake idealism and delusions. Already the working class are funded at primary and high school by the middle and upper class. This communist notion that the working class are perpetual victims must end otherwise the working class will not accept responsibility for their own actions and behavior.
Cllr Yagyah Adams
Cape Muslim Congress