The Trustees of the South African Student Solidarity Foundation for Education (“SASSFE”), are scheduled to hold the Third Meeting of the Trustees of SASSFE on 5 February 2018 at Wits University.

The Trustee of SASSFE are Archbishop Thabo Makgoba, Retired Justice Richard Goldstone, Supreme Court of Appeal Justice Azhar Cachalia and UCT Deputy Vice Chancellor Prof Mmamokgethi Phakeng.

The Board of Trustees is supported by a Management Committee which includes, Tiego Moseneke, Firoz Cachalia, Moss Mashishi, Terry Tselane, Linda Vilakazi, Themba Maseko and Kenneth Creamer.

SASSFE is a national organisation of alumni of all the universities in South Africa. Its core mission is to mobilise alumni to:

• Make regular and predictable contributions to making higher education accessible, in a dignified manner, to poor students;
• Stay connected with and involved in the life of the universities they qualified in;
• To stay actively connected with other alumni;
• To mobilise alumni into conscientious action to advance higher education and its contribution to advancing the creation of a non-racial, non-sexist, humane, fair and prosperous society.

The current focus of SASSFE is to get as many alumni to donate regularly and predictably in order to end hunger on our campuses and to cultivate a culture of giving amongst alumni.

This third meeting of the Trustee of SASSFE is particularly important in light of the promise and the attendant uncertainties created by the announcement by President Jacob Zuma of the introduction of free higher education for first year students in 2018.

This announcement impacts the work of SASSFE in that it suggests that the funding that will be provided to students will be comprehensive and will cover not only tuition but also accommodation, study materials and living expenses for qualifying students.

Whilst this development is to be welcomed, SASSFE remains apprehensive about whether this development will obviate the challenges of poor students in our universities.

Tiego Moseneke, the chairperson of the SASSFE Management Committee  said  “We will be confronted, as we have been for years now, and in spite of government’s free education intervention, with a large number of students on our campuses who go to bed on empty stomachs. These students will not succeed in their studies, if, at the very least, we do not ensure that they have food to eat. Alumni, beneficiaries of public higher education, have a special responsibility to give the current generation of students an opportunity to see their higher education through with some dignity”

The Trustees will emerge from the meeting with a clear and sustainable plan to tackle the indignity with which many poor students in our country experience higher education.

Visit www.sassfe.com and donate, regularly and reliably.