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The news that the Minister of Higher Education and Training, Dr. Blade Nzimande, will intervene to save the Huguenot College (HC) in Wellington in the Western Cape from closing its doors, is welcomed by the Democratic Alliance (DA) who brought the plight of the college under the minister's attention.

This college is a national asset and it renders a crucial service to our country as a leading training institution within the broad domain of the social services profession in South Africa. It currently accommodates 800 undergraduate and post graduate students in social service studies, and has to date already received applications from 600 prospective students for enrolment in 2011.

Apart from the fact that this college delivers at least 90 well trained and competent social workers and community developers each year, the bigger percentage of registered social service providers on the official register of the South African Council for the Social Service Profession (SACSSP) completed their studies at the Huguenot College.

As a private institution it relies on public institution partnerships to advance its degree programmes. It is essentially benefitting from public funds from the University of South Africa (UNISA) and the University of Stellenbosch (US), which is against the Higher Education Act.

Consequently these two universities now have to cut their ties with the college because they are bringing public funds to the partnership, and in essence subsidising the college's activities. Both universities are compelled to terminate their relationships with the college because the Department of Higher Education and Training (DHET) ruled that their actions are illegal.

As a result of the inevitable dissolution of these partnerships, students who registered up until 2009 would have been able to complete their academic programmes as part of a phasing out process until 2012. This year's 150 first year students would, however, have had to bear the brunt, and lecturers would also ultimately have lost their jobs.

It is heartening to learn that Minister Nzimande firstly realises the country suffers from an enormous shortage of social service providers and is therefore prepared to secure the survival of the college; secondly, that he is not prepared to allow the students to suffer as a result of the legal dilemma of the college, and thirdly, that he is prepared to actively assist the college next year to eventually comply with the requirements of the Higher Education Act in order to legalise its position.

Together with Ms. Helen Zille's appeal to the Minister to come to the rescue of the college, Ms. Patricia Kopane, the DA's Shadow Minister for Social Development and myself, as Shadow minister of Higher Education and Training, worked behind the scenes to bring the plight of the college and its students to the attention of key role players such as the directors general of the two departments and the chairpersons of the relevant portfolio committees.

I did comprehensive research on the options of the college and visited the campus to receive a petition undersigned by its first year students containing an urgent appeal to Dr. Nzimande to intervene in order to prevent the college from closure. This week I will lodge the petition with the Secretary of Parliament for the approval of the Speaker and the tabling thereof in parliament. I will then announce it by means of a member statement in the National Assembly on Tuesday 26th October during the first sitting of this year's fourth term of parliament.