Graduate tax not a firm recommendation: ANC

The proposed graduate tax is not a firm recommendation, the ANC said on Friday.

"We want to clarify that this was not a firm recommendation. [It is] safe to say that the [education] commission agreed that this recommendation needs to be considered in future," party spokesman Jackson Mthembu said in a statement.

"To this extent, no consideration has been made by the sub-committee or the ANC on this recommendation."

The African National Congress resolved at its elective conference in Mangaung last year to introduce a tax on graduates.

Conference delegates participating in the education and health commission resolved that consideration "must be given to a graduate tax for all graduates from higher education institutions".

It did not provide more details.

The sub-committee on education and health proposed that recipients of state loans which had been converted to bursaries should make a contribution by giving back to the bursary fund to benefit other needy students going forward, said Mthembu.