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Minister Blade Nzimande has failed South Africa. The DA and the DA Youth have on countless occasions asked Minister Nzimande to increase the National Student Financial Aid Scheme (NSFAS) to R16 billion per year.

If we get our priorities right, we can easily afford it. And if we did, we would be able to fund studies for every single poor, qualifying matric in South Africa.

But because the NSFAS is still under resourced, thousands of poor, qualifying matrics are left behind every year. Students are being rejected because they come from poor families that cannot fund their studies. This is unacceptable.

The DA believes that no qualifying student should be left behind because they cannot afford it. The DA Youth calls for free higher education for poor qualifying matriculants!

Despite our constant calls for an increase in the NSFAS budget, the Minister will again announce no new steps to ensure everyone has access to the NSFAS in his budget speech today. The budget allocation is simply too low.

50% of qualifying students who applied for financial assistance in the previous intake had to be turned away because the budget was exhausted. This simply isn’t fair. And, the ANC government is just sitting back and doing nothing about it.
To make matters even worse, students who are funded are being treated without any dignity or justice. The majority of NSFAS students only started receiving meal and book allocations as late as May and June of this year. The Sbux system has been one of the root causes for this injustice. We are outraged by this and we are calling on the minister to suspend this model and save our students from their suffering.

What’s sickening is that billions are being lost every year to corruption and parties and a fancy lifestyle for ANC Ministers and President Zuma. If we cut out some of the corruption we can easily afford to send every qualifying matric to university.

But that is exactly the problem. The ANC government simply doesn’t prioritise the youth, and least of all students aspiring to further their education and get a job.

The DA is the only party truly representing the youth. We are the only party fighting for free higher education for poor qualifying matriculants! We shall continue fighting for opportunities for students. We shall continue fighting for Bokomoso Bo Bontle.

Viva DA youth, viva!