Minister of Higher Education and Training, Blade Nzimande, will be dipping into development grants for Historically Disadvantaged Institutions (HDIs) to keep universities afloat at the beginning of the year ahead of the R2.33 billion shortfall created by the 2016 fees freeze.
When asked today in Parliament why he has not requested the R475 million needed before April 2015 to be transferred to his department from frivolous expenditure in other departments in the Medium Term Budget review, the Minister simply stated that the HDIs would not be prejudiced by losing that money. The Minister did not explain why, and ducked the questions on why he did not request funding through the current budget amendment process.
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