Perdeby Tuks se amptelike studentekoerant / Official Tuks student newspaper / Kuranta ya baithuti ya semmušo ya Tuks
17February2014
The future of wearable technology
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year76issue04
Neknominations
Ienk Athletics 2014
P12 P10 AfriForum Youth takes a stand against e-tolls P7
P3
AfriForum Youth has called on students to sign an online petition against e-tolls. Image provided. MOLEBOGENG MANGOALE According to a media statement released by Afriforum Youth, the organisation has taken a stand against e-tolls. AfriForum maintains that many students at UP are against e-tolls and have started a campaign against the tolling system. Afriforum made a banner with students’ footprints painted on to show their protest. “Most students do not earn an income. Those who do have an unpredictable income that is far below the tax threshold. Students can apply for personal loans to get the necessary financing to study, but these loans are expensive and have to be
repaid at a massive interest rate. There are students who travel from their home towns to their respective universities every day, and such an individual trip can cost up to R178. All students are affected by the system,” said Rochelle Oosthuyse, chairperson of AfriForum at UP. “Student support is incredible. They were first suspicious, but once the students have grasped the symbolism, they were only too eager to jump. The campaign has been a great success,” said Henk Maree, the national chairperson of AfriForum Youth, in the media statement. The youth organisation has launched an online petition to mobilise students against the e-tolling system. AfriForum Youth
maintains that the aim of the petition is to make government and the South African National Roads Agency Limited (Sanral) aware that students cannot afford to pay e-tolls. The petition is aimed to reach students across all universities in Gauteng, Free State and North-West. In October 2013 President Jacob Zuma said at an ANC rally in Johannesburg that students may be exempted from paying e-tolls. The government has taken a decision that taxis and minibuses will not pay for e-tolls as it is in the best interests of the poor. AfriForum Youth also says that students should be exempted from paying e-tolls as they have no fixed income.
University fees on the rise
Fees at UP have increased this year. Photo: Eddie Mafa DAN MAFORA The cost of higher education in South Africa has become increasingly expensive, making it more difficult for students to access it. According to IOL News, university fees have increased by 8-12% in the last year. UP’s media liaison officer Nicolize Mulder said that UP’s fee increase came as a result of a decrease in the government’s subsidies to universities, inflation in the higher education sector that exceeds the country’s official inflation rate, and the increase in costs of municipal services. UP’s registration fee increased from R4 100 in 2013 to R4 600
Graphic: Brad Donald this year. If it continues to increase at the same rate, it will be R5 200 next year. The residence reservation levy also increased from R4 600 in 2013 to R5 200 this year. This means that students who stay in residences had to pay R9 800 before they could register for their studies in 2014. Students at the University of the Witwatersrand (Wits) had to pay R9 340. In addition to the registration fee, international students at UP have to pay an additional levy of R2 500. Tonderai Matanda, second-year BA Law student said that as an international student, he had to pay the levy as well as medical aid premiums of R4 188 before he could register. “It is a burden to say the least. Times are tough and the increase in fees is a slap in the face,” he said. Residence fees have also increased. A single room cost R24
100 in 2013 and it now costs R29 700 this year. Single rooms at newly renovated residences like Boekenhout and Olienhout cost R32 000. Gambu Zitha, a second-year LLB student, said that he felt the increases were justified as the university has to maintain its facilities and needs the money to do so. At UP, the first-year Bachelor of Medicine and Surgery fees amount to R39 170. At Wits, the fees amount to R52 030 and at Stellenbosch University (SU) to R46 254. A BCom Accounting Sciences degree programme costs R25 320 at first-year level at UP, while it costs R37 380 at Wits and R33 881 at SU.