South Africa: EFF to March On Higher Education Department As Pressure Mounts On Minister Manamela

By Siyabonga Goni

The EFF is demanding Higher Education Minister Buti Manamela's resignation over what it calls a 'mess-up' at NSFAS, and will march on the department's Pretoria offices on 18 September.

The Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) will march to the Higher Education and Training ministry in Pretoria on Friday, 18 September, demanding the resignation of Minister Buti Manamela. EFF MP Sihle Lonzi cited Manamela's "mess-up" at the National Student Financial Aid Scheme (NSFAS) as the catalyst for the demonstration.

The march comes after the Gauteng High Court ordered Manamela to reinstate seven NSFAS board members dismissed during his appointment of suspended administrator Hlengani Mathebula. The court flagged procedural flaws in Manamela's actions and labelled Mathebula's conduct as "bizarre".

Before Mathebula's appointment, the board had recommended Waseem Carrim as CEO, a process the board says stalled amid "political interference" from Manamela. After losing the high court case, Manamela met with the board and appointed advocate Richardt Tlou Ramashia as interim chairperson, with Carrim reinstated as acting CEO, "to provide NSFAS with stable governance", said Manamela on 11 September.

For Lonzi, the reversal doesn't undo the damage.

"A lot of the issues that students are experiencing - defunding, student accommodation, the middleman schemes, the evictions - he likes to say he's not the minister of NSFAS,...

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