'Pensioners must fund Fees Must Fall cause' - Teachers‚ police‚ DGs‚ how do you feel about EFF levy?

26 October 2016 - 10:04 By Bianca Capazorio

The Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) party has proposed a retirement fund levy to fund the country's fees shortfall. EFF deputy leader Floyd Shivambu said the idea that free education was impossible was an "ideologically bankrupt one" in an outdated and "constipated" system.He said that a small levy should be charged on retirement funds- which according to his calculations‚ would create about R100 billion in funding.He said the Public Investment Corporation (PIC)‚ which invests the pension funds of government employees‚ had managed to make multi-billion rand investments into companies and so should be able to pay such a levy.This amount‚ coupled with government's approximately R33 billion in funding through the department and the National Student Financial Aid Scheme (NSFAS) and increased corporate taxes could create around R163 billion in income to fund university education.He was speaking during a debate on the issue of university fees‚ attended by Higher Education minister Blade Nzimande.Nzimande repeated government's message that free education for all is not possible and that government has worked hard to ensure that the poor and the so-called missing middle are able to access higher education. As an example‚ he said‚ 75 percent of students at the University of Johannesburg either paid no fees‚ or very little in fees. At the University of Fort Hare‚ 90% of students fell into this category.He said that the public service would suffer heavily if universities did not complete the academic year."If the 2016 trainee teachers do not graduate‚ about 20 000 classrooms will be without teachers at the beginning of next year. Junior doctors‚ those that are hoping to graduate this year‚ are at the front line of service delivery in public sector hospitals."The Inkatha Freedom Party's Mkhuleko Hlengwa meanwhile called on the entire ANC caucus to resign‚ saying that the promises of free higher education the party had made‚ were lies."You were elected on the basis of lies" he said.The Democratic Alliance's Belinda Bazzoli said the ANC and its policies were complicit in the creating the current heated situation seen on campuses around South Africa. "The ANC has dithered like the 100 year old lady that it is‚" she said.- TMG Parliament/TMG Digital..

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