Roundup: S. African gov't engages business community to address student protests

South Africa's Higher Education and Training Minister Blade Nzimande on Tuesday met with the business community in Johannesburg to seek solutions to the protracted student protests over fee increases.

The meeting took place as student protests continued unabated across the country, causing some universities to suspend academic activities.

Nzimande told the media before the meeting that they want to have a holistic approach to a myriad of problems bedeviling the country's higher education.

"This is part of the ongoing exchange and consultation we have with business, broadly for cooperation in skills development and to find specific interventions. The meeting is to also find concrete and practical ways to support students and universities in funding modalities," the minister said.

Nzimande urged universities to complete the 2016 academic year, saying that "we are seriously concerned with the state of our universities at the moment."

"We want to save the academic year while finding solutions on how to fund students. We are on the same side with the students in so far as the provision of free education for poor students and those who cannot afford," the minister said.

Student protests have turned violent over the past few weeks, with reports of property destruction, looting, intimidation and clashes with police.

Nzimande said it is the government policy to fund those who cannot afford education but lashed out at those engaged in hooliganism and looting, which he said, are criminal acts.

The country has spent over 59.7 billion rand (about 4.26 billion U.S. dollars) to fund over 2.6 million poor students, the minister revealed, adding that the country cannot afford free education for all.

He said the struggle for free education has been hijacked by those who want to discredit the government by all means.

The government is willing to engage students with genuine concerns but students should not loose sight of their legitimate struggle and destroy property and loot shops, Nzimande said.

Police have arrested 567 people suspected of involvement in acts of violence during the protests. Some of those arrested are not students, police said.

Cas Coovadia, Chairperson of the National Business Initiative, said they are keen to work with the government to address the socio-economic challenges facing the country.

Coovadia, who is also the Managing Director of the Banking Association of South Africa, warned that there would be dire consequences if universities fail to finish their 2016 academic year.

Coovadia said sacrificing the 2016 academic year would have horrendous consequences for the country which has a critical skill shortage.

For the country to be competitive globally there should be critical skills which universities have to prioritize, he added. Enditem