I was very thrilled and excited when I received a letter in 2002 congratulating me for having been awarded a bursary by the Eastern Cape Department of Education to further my studies.
However, that day’s ecstacy has now turned into confusion, anger, frustration and depression, as I am now a drop-out from the Master’s degree course at the University of Stellenbosch. The department has failed to honour the payments due to that university for my fees which has resulted in me being financially excluded from the course before completion of it.
The confusion was brought about by the fact that I initially applied to Potchefstroom University to do Master’s degree in education but ended up not going there. In fact, I did not even register with them because Potchefstroom did not offer the course I applied for that year despite their advertising the course in the previous year (2001) I then opted for University of Stellenbosch.
I made sure that I informed the department immediately about the change of institution. I sent the department my June results which served as proof that I was now studying for an MPhil (leadership in education) with the University of Stellenbosch.
To my surprise, an amount of R7?500 was deposited to Potchefstroom University by the Department of Education as a payment toward my fees there. When I requested Potchefstroom to transfer the payment to Stellenbosch, they refused, claiming that they were not allowed to do that. They said they could only pay back the money to my sponsor. I informed the Department of Education about that through written communication and telephone but in vain.
I do not know what happened to that money. The only thing I know is that it was not paid to Stellenbosch. Last year (2003), Stellenbosch sent me a letter stating that I was not registered for that year because of what I owed the institution.
Nevertheless, my assignments were assessed and marked. The due date for that payment was May 2003, after which I would be deregistered if my fees were not paid in full. No payment was made by the department in 2003; as a result, I discontinued my studies. My dreams of obtaining an MPhil degree in December 2003 were shattered!
This year, an amount of R4?000 was paid to Stellenbosch, which falls short by R4 500. I do not understand why the department does not pay the promised R7 500 that was awarded to me.
Mrs Mayekiso, the skills development facilitator in Cradock District office of DoE always tries to pep me up about the full payment of my fees. She has even referred me to Garry in Bisho about this matter, who also promised that the matter would be solved. When I later contacted him to follow up on the matter, he was available. I also spoke to a Ms B Macanda and a Ms Kosi, but could not get hold of them when I tried to contact them again. I do not believe that they are not there. There is something fishy about this dilly-dallying with the full payment of R7?500 by the Department of Education, I suspect. I remember one day I called, I was told Ms Kosi was not at work but she was there. I had just spoken to her and I had faxed her a letter from the attorneys of the University of Stellenbosch which I wanted to confirm whether she had received or not, only to be told that she was not at work!
Can you believe this?
This year in July I decided that I should consult a Member of the Provincial Legislature of the Eastern Cape, Ms NP Abraham, to help me with the matter. She came back to me saying she had forwarded my email to the MEC for Education’s office. It is now mid-September, but I have not heard a word from the MEC’s office. I am now losing faith in the government machinery of the Eastern Cape. This is depressing. I just hope my fees have not been misdirected, as there are reports that the Department of Education has overspent its budget.
How do you overspend when you have not settled all your accounts?