Motlanthe new Chancellor of UniVen

By Ofentse Mokae
09 March 2010

Deputy President Kgalema Motlanthe has been installed as the new Chancellor of the University of Venda in Limpopo today.

Motlanthe, who is also ANC deputy president, succeeds former National Mineworkers Union and ANC secretary general now businessman Cyril Ramaphosa, who joined the university in 1997 as chancellor, following his predecessor the late Walter Sisulu.

During his installation Motlanthe called for broad consultation over access to and affordability of university education.

Motlanthe referred to what he called the clamour over a review of the National Student Financial Aid Scheme.

He stressed that block grants from government and students’ fees were not long-term sustainable funding models for tertiary institutions.

This comes also as the debate around the call for government to introduce free higher education gains momentum.

Last week saw a number of higher education institutions brought to a standstill as SASCO, an affiliate of the ANC, led students to protest marches across the country demanding government to introduce free higher education.

In the memorandum handed over to parliament’s higher education and training portfolio committee chairperson Marius Fransman, students say it is only through such a move that the education system can be overhauled.

“We also demand government to increase corporate tax, particularly on monopoly industries and increase taxation on South Africans who earn comfortable salaries in order to fund this free education,” said SASCO President Mbulelo Mandlana.

The higher education and training ministry says they will publish the review report on the Ministerial Committee reviewing the National Student Financial Aid Scheme later this month.

“We remain committed to improving the NSFAS to better deliver on its core mandate to assist poor, academically deserving students to access higher education,” the ministry said in a statement.

The ministry says they urge all interested parties to respect the process that has been set in place and to engage actively in the process of consultation to be opened next week.

Montlanthe joins a long list of politicians who have taken chancellorship positions at universities.

This includes his cabinet colleagues Trevor Manuel who was appointed chancellor of the Cape Peninsula University of Technology, Rev Makhenkesi Stofile for Fort Hare University and Desmond Tutu of the University of the Western Cape, amongst others.

ADDITIONAL REPORTING BY NEWSFLASH NEWS AGENCY