The Minister of Higher Education, Science and Technology, Blade Nzimande. Picture: Chris Collingridge
ActionSA’s youth wing says they are ready to take to the streets like the youth of 1976 to ensure the removal of Minister of Higher Education, Science and Technology Blade Nzimande.
The youth wing’s campaign manager, Boitumelo Talafala, said it was high time that young people take their future back into their own hands.
“As an ActionSA campaign manager and political activist, the picket/protest is us actively taking our future back into our own hands and away from greedy, corrupt incompetent ministers who take state funds to finance their lavish lifestyles and leave us for dead.
“It is disheartening and honestly sickening that those in government are gambling with our future and livelihoods like it is nothing,” Talafala added.
She said their picket would continue until Nzimande and his “associates” tendered their resignations.
In doing so, Talafala said Nzimande and Ernest Khosa (NSFAS board chairperson) would not have to to send out a media release to announce their resignation.
“What we forcefully will achieve is the minister and Ernest Khosa leaving their posts with criminal charges against them.
“They deserve to lose everything attached to their names as we are being denied a chance at higher education learning,” she added.
Furthermore, she said, both the minister and Khosa should be vetted and everything the duo received during their term of office should be seized.
“It was reported that the funding scheme has been paying R1,650 in monthly allowances to ghost students while young people are being rejected by NSFAS, some not getting their funding on time, sometimes less or not at all.
“This is subjecting young people to being homeless, drugs, and crime, and some find themselves in prostitution as a way of survival.”
ActionSA’s youth entered the fray with other student organisations and various political parties calling for the removal of both the NSFAS board chair and the higher education minister following the Organisation Undoing Tax Abuse’s (Outa) expose of corruption at NSFAS.
The allegations came as a number of disadvantaged students were still waiting to be remunerated for their outstanding payments from last year.
Student leaders have warned of action if the financial scheme failed to pay by Monday.
Outa first laid a criminal complaint of corruption against then NSFAS CEO Andile Nongogo, a former Services Sector Education and Training Authority colleague, and two service providers mid-last year.
The organisation started its investigation into the financial scheme in 2022, soon after it discovered that Services Sector Education and Training Authority (SSETA) contractors were linked to other tenders among the SETAs and NSFAS.
Khosa took leave of absence last week.