In chess, it is called a stalemate. When both players can no longer win, the match is declared a draw and the game is over. The disruptive protests this week at universities such as Wits in Johannesburg and, much earlier in the year, institutions such as UKZN, signal the obvious — we have reached a stalemate on the issue of historic debt.
The accumulation of student debt reportedly runs north of R9bn. That’s a lot of money for any country. For individual students from poor to middle-class families, the problem of mounting debt is quite simply devastating in its consequences. In a vain attempt to recoup some of it, universities refuse to allow students to register for the new academic year. It is a dance all too familiar to me from my years in university administration. I can see the problem from both sides.
For the university, the steady decline in state funding (in real terms) over many years puts the institution at huge financial risk. Ignore the problem and many of our public universities will simply collapse. It is as simple and straightforward as that. To even gain 10% of outstanding fees means adding millions to the coffers. Letters of demand are issued, debt collectors are employed and access to academic results or certificates are denied — until you pay up. University administrators know there is no realistic way of recouping most of the outstanding funds, but it is the marginal gains that keep the practice of collection and exclusion going from one financial year to the next.
For the student, the household income simply cannot meet the hefty financial demands of studying in higher education. It is not only tuition, but also accommodation, books, travel and meals. Here’s the problem: long before former president Jacob Zuma declared free higher education up to a certain threshold of family income, debt had already been building steadily over the years. In other words, the Zuma decision had not taken care of historic debt which still weighs like a boulder on the shoulders of many students. No matter what they do, there is no way students can find the money to settle the debt and register for classes. Their only option is to take to the streets.
In 2021 the situation with regard to debt is even more precarious. The department of higher education and training, like all government departments, saw a massive cut in its budget for purposes of reallocation to deal with the health and economic disaster occasioned by Covid-19.
In 2021 the situation with regard to debt is even more precarious. The department of higher education & training (DHET), like all government departments, saw a huge cut in its budget for purposes of reallocation to deal with the health and economic disaster occasioned by Covid-19. The average South African family saw a dramatic loss in family income as a result of retrenchments or scaled-down income for the breadwinners in the home.
Stalemate. The university desperately needs the outstanding funds to function; the students do not have the money to cover outstanding debt. They attack the university, even shutting down major roads; the university calls the police when things get violent and students get arrested. Year in and year out, the same clumsy, unproductive dance.
In chess, stalemate means you restart the game and try again. Here is my proposal. Government should cancel all historic debt through the end of the 2020 academic year. It should then refigure national budgets to reimburse every one of the 26 public universities at least 50% of the outstanding debt over a period of five years, within the capacity of the state; that is more than any university can ever hope to achieve, even with the most robust collection systems. This jubilee arrangement will bring immediate relief to families, offer security to universities and allow a new generation of South African students to continue studies and pursue careers without the devastation of personal and familial debt on their shoulders.
Then, steps should be taken to ensure higher education never again reaches a situation in which debt balloons into the billions. There should be legislation that prevents universities from allowing debt escalation outside agreed-upon limits. There must be enforceable laws that require students to repay minimal loans, deductible from their salaries. And there must be a national campaign to build a culture of repayment among young people — once again based on minimal commitments, guaranteed through, for example, bank loans. Ideally, of course, there should be no debt accumulated by any student, but that is completely unrealistic given the nature of our economy and the increasing costs of higher education. At the same time, learning to pay your dues is an important civic duty that SA desperately needs to build, from large university campuses to local municipalities.
Cancel student debt immediately or continue to try to play chess from a stalemate position.
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