Sunday Independent Sunday, March 14, 2021

VARSITY SHUTDOWN LOOMS As student fee debt estimated to be at R14 billion mounts, protests over exclusion spread across South Africa EDWIN NAIDU TERTIARY institutions throughout South Africa are braced for a nationwide shutdown as the funding crisis, accompanied by rising student protests over fees, threatens to derail the 2021 academic year. Threat of protest action comes amid a funding shortfall for universities amounting to more than R6 billion, subsequently resolved following government intervention, expected cutbacks in subsidies, and the escalating total student fee debt currently at almost R14bn. In addition, the move towards digital learning as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic has severely impacted finances of tertiary institutions throughout the country. On Friday, the South African Union of Students (Saus) handed over a list of demands to Minister…

DIVORCE Zuma to pay R95K alimony LETHU NXUMALO THE Pietermaritzburg High Court has ordered former president Jacob Zuma to pay monthly maintenance of R95 000 to his soon to be ex-wife, Tobeka Madiba-Zuma. Zuma, a polygamist, will also be liable for all private school-related fees for their minor child and is expected to make an initial contribution of R50 000 within 10 days towards the former first lady’s legal costs. The former first lady filed an urgent interim maintenance application pending finalisation of their divorce. She initially sought R170 000 for her upkeep but the amount was revised to R145 000 by her legal team. She told the court that since 2018 her husband had stopped making her car payments resulting in her Audi Q7 being repossessed. Her list of…

SHARPEVILLE MASSACRE Youth pay tribute to survivors LESEGO MAKGATHO lesego.makgatho@inl.co.za TIMOTHY BERNARD African News Agency (ANA) THE launch of the sixth Anti-Racism Week campaign took place at the Sharpeville Human Rights Precinct near Vereeniging yesterday. Anti-Racism Week is held annually during Human Rights Month, on March 14-21. It culminates on Human Rights Day, also the International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination. At the launch, young people paid tribute to all those who lost their lives in the Sharpeville Massacre. The event featured dialogue and discussion sessions aimed at finding solutions to tackling racism. “This also included a skit of police brutality at the time, played out by a group of survivors and families of the victims of the Sharpeville Massacre in 1960. The commemoration was also attended…

MONARCH Covid deprives subjects from paying last respects to King SIBONISO MNGADI siboniso.mngadi@inl.co.za COVID-19 regulations will deprive thousands of Zulu King Goodwill Zwelithini’s subjects and dignitaries from paying their last respect as funeral proceedings are expected to change from the normal send off due to the pandemic. The lying in state process was overturned yesterday by the royal family fearing that people would gather in numbers to view the king's body posing a risk to contract the virus. Prince Mangosuthu Buthelezi, Traditional Prime Minister to the Zulu Monarch, has discouraged people from flocking into the king’s palaces to send their condolences while funeral arrangements were underway. “We are faced with the reality that South Africa and the world remain within the grip of a deadly pandemic. The national regulations which…

‘DEAN OF AFRICAN LETTERS’ HONOURED Es’kia Mphahlele’s works showcased at Market Theatre DR TSHEPO MVULANE MOLOI THE MEMORY of Professor Ezekiel Letoba Mazwi Mphahlele (1919-2008) or “Es’kia” or “Zeke”, was rekindled throughout February at The Market Theatre in Newtown, Gauteng. The origin of the nickname “Zeke” remains elusive, unlike that of “Es’kia”. After almost two decades (1959-1977) in self-exile, in defiance of the apartheid regime, when arriving back in South Africa – what Mphahlele called “the tyranny of place” in 1977 – he decolonised his name from the biblically derived Hebrew “Ezekiel” to “Es’kia”, which embraced his Africanism. The decision is prudently recorded in Mphahlele’s last interview (published in the now defunct South African literary journal Wordsetc) to journalist Madala Thepa. Mphahlele argued that “Es’kia is Sotho ... So in…

EASTERN CAPE Promoting road safety, motivating pupils, showcasing heritage UNATHI KONDILE WE GET to the late Sol Kerzner’s sprawling 700-hectare Wild Coast Sun in Mbizana just after 10pm on Wednesday. Casino closing. Restaurants closed. A few patrons quaff their last drinks at the bar as we check in. Quite a number of familiar faces perambulate up and down the lobby. Radio personalities, actors and influencers all looking glam doing nothing. We missed the gala dinner and Minister of Tourism Mmamokolo Kubayi-Ngubane’s keynote address. A few hours later I am standing in a breakfast queue, similar to those you see outside Post Offices lately. It is terrible what Covid-19 protocols have done to hotel breakfast buffets. You wait and wait. By 7.30 on the Thursday morning we are all heading out…