Rhodes demands fifty percent debt payment

Rhodes University in Makhanda has proposed that students must clear fifty percent of outstanding debt and tuition fees by the end of twenty twenty-six to register for the twenty twenty-seven academic year.

Thirteen students arrested at protest

The proposed fee payment protocol sparked protests at Rhodes University last week. Thirteen students were arrested and later released during the demonstrations against the new policy.

University cites unsustainable debt levels

Rhodes University spokesperson Olwetu Gwanya said the protocol responds to unsustainably growing student debt levels and the need to ensure the university's long-term financial sustainability while maintaining access to higher education.

“The proposed 2027 protocol on the payment of student fees is a response to the unsustainably growing levels of student debt and the need to ensure the university's long-term financial sustainability while maintaining access to higher education.”

NSFAS-funded students are exempt

Of Rhodes's nine thousand five hundred thirty-two students, five thousand thirty-nine are self-funded and four thousand four hundred ninety-three are funded by the National Student Financial Aid Scheme.

CPUT withdrew similar plan after protests

In August, Cape Peninsula University of Technology attempted to introduce a financial recovery plan forcing postgraduate and unfunded students to pay an upfront seven thousand rand fee.

Sector carries thirty billion rand in debt

Prof Thandi Lewin of the Department of Higher Education and Training said the sector is carrying about thirty billion rand in historic student debt, much of it impaired, as institutions consider measures to keep teaching…

Expert says systems, not money, is the problem

Dr Simphiwe Madikizela, a senior lecturer at Unisa's Graduate School of Business Leadership, says the difficulty in funding students is not always a lack of money, but weak planning and systems at institutions mandated to…

“poor planning, weak and inefficient systems and processes”

Direct university funding would work better

Madikizela said the solution is a well-coordinated entity with skilled managers who can plan properly and put in place efficient systems.

Rhodes and SRC reach partial agreement

After Rhodes secured a court interim interdict against protests, the SRC met with management. Management welcomed an inverted sliding scale for debt payments, agreed to reconsider the blanket three thousand rand monthly payment, and agreed…

NSFAS-funded students still face housing crisis

A NSFAS-funded Rhodes student told Daily Maverick that although study costs are covered, residence fees exceed the NSFAS cap.Upper campus residence costs ninety-seven thousand rand while the NSFAS cap does not fully cover accommodation costs.

“I know what it's like to owe R100,000 at a university, and the school kept on saying that NSFAS students are not affected, but I would like to say that we are affected because our residence fees are way too high.”

Parliament pushes for standardised student rules

Tebogo Letsie, chairperson of Parliament's Portfolio Committee on Higher Education, said universities must negotiate affordable payment plans with self-paying students. Parliament is reviewing the Higher Education Act to establish standardised statutes across universities.

“We also can't have access restricted because a council at that institution has taken a decision that will exclude thousands of students whose parents can't afford to pay.”

Rhodes continues engagement with students

Rhodes University said it continued to engage with the SRC and that the proposal remained subject to approval by the university's council.