While President Jacob Zuma’s announcement that there would be no fee increases for universities for 2016 – following two weeks of protests by tertiary students nationwide – was a welcome relief for all students, no mention was made of where the resulting shortfall in university income, estimated to be in the region of R2.7-billion, would come from, opposition party, the Democratic Alliance (DA) said on Monday.

For this reason, the DA said it had started the process of amending the national budget, through Parliament’s Standing Committee on Appropriations, to fund this shortfall.

“It is the DA’s contention that the African National Congress (ANC) government had an opportune moment to address this funding crisis in the Medium Term Budget Policy Statement (MTBPS) delivered by Finance Minister Nhlanhla Nene in Parliament just 48 hours before the President’s decision to place a moratorium on fee increases.

“The Minister’s failure to appreciate and adequately address the funding crisis in higher education in the MTBPS further indicates that the ANC government had no intention of lightening the financial burden on students,” it noted.

In a letter to the Standing Committee on Appropriations chairperson Paul Mashatile, DA MP Malcolm Figg called on the committee to solicit the assistance of the Parliamentary Budget Office  in amending the relevant legislation, including the exact amount required to fund the shortfall, and the most appropriate areas in which this revenue could be found;  for the Portfolio Committee on Higher Education and Training to be invited to brief the Standing Committee on Appropriations on the scope and extent of the funding crisis in higher education, as well as its Budget Review and Recommendation Report; and for the parliamentary legal adviser to provide advice on the process that must be followed to avoid procedural error.

“There is no doubt that the funding will not be found in the Department of Higher Education and Training’s (DHET’s) University budget. That budget is extremely tight already, with little or no surplus or identified wasteful expenditure that could be transferred,” the DA said.

The opposition party, therefore, made several “concrete proposals” as to where R3.8-billion of funds can be found.

Its suggestions included that the R2-billion from the sale of government’s R25.4-billion stake in telecommunications company Vodacom, currently allocated to the Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa grouping’s New Development Bank, rather be allocated to cover the shortfall in university funding.

It further suggested that the R720-million allocated to the Department of International Relations and Cooperation to offset the impact of the depreciation of the rand on foreign missions, be used for tertiary funding, while an additional R69.7-million allocated to VIP Protection Services in the MTBPS be recalled.

The DA also called for the R67-million allocated for the preparatory work on the planned nuclear build, to be abandoned, while R1-billion could be taken from the skills levy surplus.

“. . . the DA will be bringing these proposals into the Parliamentary process from next week onwards, starting with Tuesday’s sitting of the Appropriations Committee.

“The DA urges the ANC to back us on this important matter for both students and universities. In the end, money must be found within the existing budget for a 0% increase, otherwise what should be a relief for students, will result in cuts at universities. This will be equally bad for students and for innovative research which our economy so desperately needs,” it stated.