Johannesburg- Free State Premier Sisi Ntombela dropped a bombshell last Friday when she sent a letter to her provincial cabinet and heads of department stating that she was scrapping the awarding of bursaries to top achievers.
In the letter titled “Suspension of awarding of bursaries”, Ntombela wrote that all departments in the province were instructed not to award bursaries to any student commencing studies in 2022.
“This directive is due to the enormous pressure currently being experienced by the fiscus and the obligation to make every effort to reduce the wage bill of the public service. This includes the bursaries for the top matriculants,” wrote Ntombela.
Ntombela’s instructions were met with hostility by the ANCYL provincial task team led by Xolani Tseletsele and Phiwe Mathe.
The ANCYL in the province said it rejected the ill-informed directive issued by Ntombela to not award bursaries to prospective students for the 2022 academic year.
“Education cannot be classified as an unaffordable cost, particularly when it has to be accessed by children of the economically marginalised. We think that our provincial government needs to be re-orientated and retrained on the strategic goal of the National Democratic Revolution, which remains the liberation of Africans in particular and blacks in general from politics and socio-economic bondage,” the statement said.
After the ANCYL’s response to Ntombela, her office released a statement defending what she had stated in her letter. “Education remains the cornerstone in the process of building the national democratic society. Therefore, the provincial government remains committed to the provision of financial and non-financial support through bursaries to the deserving students in accordance with the set criteria,” it said.
The statement further said the provincial government would not be awarding any new bursaries to students wishing to study outside South Africa.
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