Eastern Cape Premier Makhenkesi Stofile has called on Minister of Education Kader Asmal to hamba kahle — Zulu for “tread carefully” — on his controversial proposals for radically restructuring higher education.
Addressing a graduation ceremony at the University of Transkei (Unitra) last week, Stofile said his government does not agree that Asmal’s current proposals address the country’s historical legacy “that has entrenched inequality”.
Stofile, who said he supports the current debate on transformation of higher education, declared that his provincial government does not “believe that the set of criteria [of Asmal’s National Working Group] to measure the quality of education in our universities is adequate.”
“Its limitations are as glaring as they are foreign. The proposed configurations from the ministry [of education] do not seem to take seriously the imperatives of our government imposed by the victory of democracy in 1994,” he said.
Stofile is the first top political figure within the ruling African National Congress’s government to publicly slate Asmal’s higher education proposals, supporting claims that they are being contested at the political level.
There has been widespread speculation about high-level political commotion, following the Cabinet’s defferal of a decision on Asmal’s proposals three weeks ago and again last week.
Three weeks ago the government sought to play down the implications of the Cabinet’s response to Asmal’s proposals, saying that Cabinet needed “more information” and “more time for discussion”.
Last week government spokesperson Joel Netshitenzhe said Asmal’s proposals were accepted by Cabinet, but it was still necessary to look into the “software”.
Stofile’s statement at the weekend gives credence to claims that massive political pressure has been put on the Cabinet to review the proposals.
“What we are arguing for here is the need for the transformation of tertiary institutions; even those in the Eastern Cape. But we are also warning against economism being the sole determination of the configuration our institutions. The past and the future must be key pillars for managing the present.”
Asmal’s proposals, Stofile said, “do not seem to take seriously the priorities for development nodes announced by the president last year. With great respect, we are pleading with the minister to hamba kahle on these matters.”
Stofile also warned that “all views must be treated with respect and seriousness and as such, we need more time to debate these [higher education] changes”.
Stofile aired similar sentiments last month during a graduation ceremony at Fort Hare University. Fort Hare and Unitra have been targeted by Asmal for radical restructuring.
According to proposals contained in the National Working Group’s report, The Restructuring of the Higher Education System in South Africa, Rhodes University and Fort Hare are to merge. The merged university would take over the Unitra medical school, with the rest of Unitra being closed.
Speaking at both Unitra and Fort Hare, Stofile said he believes the two institutions represent “a mirror image of the most deprived communities of our land”.
Students from both universities, Stofile said, bring to their campuses the experience of poverty, low self-esteem and job-seeker mentality as opposed to participating meaningfully in the economy. “This situation challenges… the university community as well as the state and the private sector.”
He said his provincial government has improved the resources it gives to Unitra and Fort Hare.
Funding is affecting both universities. The question of how the universities are funded, Stofile said, “must be informed by ideological clarity. It must be guided by a sound political theory.
“To simply jiggle figures and statistics, we believe, is to hide behind the convenience of amnesia.”