State trying to ‘capture universities through new bill’

BDLive 06 February 2016

The controversial draft Higher Education Amendment Bill only seeks to facilitate state "capture" of universities, while the sector is on the verge of economic collapse, says South Africa’s opposition party the Democratic Alliance, writes Bekezela Phakathi for BDLive.

The bill proposes to give the minister the power to determine transformation objectives and put mechanisms in place to ensure the objectives are met. It allows the minister to change processes, procedures and mandates of universities and other higher education institutions. It also empowers the minister to withhold funding under specific circumstances.

Democratic Alliance higher education and training spokesperson Professor Belinda Bozzoli said several clauses in the bill were framed in such a way as to reduce the susceptibility of the minister’s decisions to oversight by the courts.
Full report on the BDLive site

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