Finance Minister Pravin Gordhan told the Commission into Higher Education and Training on Friday that trade-offs were required to ensure balanced, sustainable development that met the vast needs of the population using available resources. The country is in a cost containment phase underpinned by a sluggish economy and tax revenue shortfalls, making the idea of free quality tertiary education even more elusive. The minister and his deputy, Mcebisi Jonas, presented expert witnesses before the commission’s public hearing, highlighting that allocating more funds for post-school education would require reprioritisation of funds away from other programmes or an increase in tax revenues, given the budget constraints. In the medium term, R21.1bn has been added to the education sector’s purse, including a R5bn provisional allocation in 2019/20. Despite fiscal constraints, post-school education has had the fastest growing budget in the country after debt service costs. Gordhan said at just 1...
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