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We have convened this media briefing to brief the media and the public about our Right To Learn Campaign (RTLC), as we have done for over 15 years now. The Progressive Youth Alliance (SASCO, YCLSA and ANCYL) calls upon all students in South African universities, to be vigilant, conscious and honest on the #feesmustfall campaign. It is common knowledge that the work of government to deliver free education cannot be an overnight project. As organisations who have been involved in students' and youth struggles for many years, including campaigning for free education, we understand this better than those whose call for #feesmustfall as a newly found populist pastime.

It is a lengthy process that would have to be delivered in phases and demands time for proper and thorough investigation.  We are fortunate that this is what our government is committed to and is pressing very hard to get it done. The phases are evident in the victories scored by the preceding generations of PYA leaders, who include former SASCO president, David Makhura, former ANCYL President Malusi Gigaba, former YCL National Secretary, Buti Manamela and many others. We did not always have the National Financial Aid Scheme (NSFAS). It's establishment in 1996 as a Tertiary Education Fund of South Africa (TEFSA), before it was changed to NSFAS, was a victory of previous generations of the PYA, from which we carry the baton of the free education campaign.

The ANC Government has listened to the recent immediate demands of the students, and President Zuma has been clear that indeed tertiary education needs government interventions to meet the needs of our people especially the poor and deserving students. In understanding the plight of students, the ANC Government has agreed as an immediate measure, with universities that there would be:
-              No fee increase for 2016  academic year and,
-              That university students who meet the NSFAS means test will not be required to provide upfront payments when  registering for the 2016 academic year.
-              Government has reprioritised almost R2.6 billion to ensure that deserving students are not barred from continuing their  studies because of outstanding university fees.
-              A further two billion rand is allocated for the 2016/17 financial year to ensure that these students, still in the university  system, are supported financially to complete their studies.
In total, the ANC government has committed an additional amount of R6.9 billion to NSFAS for the 2016/17 financial year.As the PYA we call upon students from all walks of life to use the systems provided by government and not delay their future any longer unnecessarily. There is no reason for strikes to continue when the people’s government has addressed all relevant immediate concerns of students, within the prevailing fiscal constraints. Mass action is not all of struggle, it is one part of it, that should be employed tactfully.

The genuine concerns of students are a maximum program of the PYA, our duty is to ensure that we work with the ANC, government and the new commission on free higher education as appointed by the president today to investigate modalities of implementing free higher education. We will be submitting our own proposals to the commission on how free education should be realised. We believe that by the year 2019 the government will be ready to fully implement free higher education on students who come from needy and poor backgrounds. All those who share our genuine aspiration for free education should similarly prepare and submit their inputs to the commission. There is a time for mass action with its attendant hashtags plus sound bites but there is also time for sensible substantial input on what the campaign for free education is about.

We are satisfied that in six months, there will be a clear report from the commission on how government will go about in implementing free education in South Africa. We remain vigilant that, as the PYA, [that] genuine concerns of students must and will not be [high-jacked] hijacked by dark forces, particularly the elements who want to use this protest as ground for regime change.

It is therefore not surprising to see all BRICS countries have economic problems at the scale they are having them. We know that their agenda is sinister in nature and they don’t have the interests of students at heart. These are people who are paid monies to disrupt, and course havoc, we have sensitised the ANC and government to deal vehemently with criminals who have motives beyond those of student needs and resorting to criminality. They must be dealt with in accordance to the laws of the Republic. We are aware that the are some who have been trained by the CIA to lay a fertile ground for the regime change in South Africa. These forces are led by a belief that the economic shift from the West to the East create a danger for them.

One of the easy ways, even the media can use to identify these is that they do not have members. As we all know, twitter followers is not membership. The media tends to lend credence to some forces simply because they identify themselves of leaders of some newly found movement. The media does not ask questions, who are your members? when and where were you elected? are you a student? when was the last time you were in class?

Members of the PYA, viz. SASCO, YCL , ANCYL and all progressive forces should defend the interests and gains of students who marched genuinely for #feesmustfall last year. They must make sure that students use all the concessions provided by government and go back to class and wait for the report from the commission. Free Education is the maximum program of the [ANCYL] PYA and we will [leave no stones unturned] spare neither strength nor effort in ensuring that the government implements this. We are certain that the commission will come with practical steps on how to implement free education.  It will be ill-conceived and naïve to not go to class demanding free education without giving government time to come with modalities on how this demand will be met.

The PYA assures the country that we are working with government to find a long-term solution to the challenges around funding for post-school education. We call on the private sector to come to the party and contribute on the funding challenges of the high cost of post school education in South Africa. Students should be decisive and reject and dark forces that seeks to delay them any further and urge students to play their part in ensuring that they focus on their academic studies and take this opportunity provided through these additional loans to successfully complete their studies. One of the responsibilities we have as young people, is that once the concessions to our demand that #feesmustfall is granted, we should then proceed and excel academically to prove that it is well deserved.

The PYA and the student body condemn these acts that undermine the legitimacy of the students’ campaigns. Students can no longer delay their studies, they must be allowed to write their examinations those who did not write last year, and those that need[s] to register must register and go back to class. We will regroup ten months into the year, when the report on Free Higher Education has been released to consider its contents.

Our structures in all campuses are ready to assist students, as they have always done, with their problems. Our SRCs will continue to address other students struggles at campus level as per the commitments we made in the SRC election manifestos on the basis of which they were elected.
#FeesHaveFallen
#ACCESSMUSTRISE
#BACKTOSCHOOL

Issued by the PYA