KAMOHELO CHAUKE: Show us the R1bn, UCT

In a recent interview on SABC 1, University of Cape Town (UCT) vice-chancellor Mosa Moshabela announced the university had allocated R1bn to assist struggling students.

This news was met with praise from the student body nationally, which has long recognised UCT’s proactive stance on addressing historical debt — an issue that has prevented many students from registering.

Under the leadership of former vice-chancellor Mamokgethi Phakeng UCT made significant strides in resolving these financial barriers, resulting in it being considered one of the most compassionate universities in SA by student activists, including myself. 

However, a critical question arises: R1bn is a substantial commitment. If these funds have indeed been allocated, where are they? How were they raised? Is UCT accounting for and claiming money coming from other sources, such as the National Student Financial Aid Scheme (NSFAS)? Why hasn’t this assistance reached the students who are still unable to register for the 2025 academic year due to outstanding debt? 

Since the announcement the topic has only been addressed in the January 9 SABC interview and an online article by Corbin August that followed. The UCT Student Representative Council (SRC) has yet to issue a formal statement regarding the money or express support for it — something one might reasonably expect.

Instead, the SRC continues to stress that the situation on campus remains unchanged since the #RhodesMustFall movement. In a statement about the 2025 academic year the SRC president urged students to “ready their boots”, signalling the possibility of protest action if students remain unable to register.

UCT’s silence 

If I were on the UCT SRC and I learned that my peers — many of whom are unable to register or have had residence offers revoked due to outstanding debt — were set to benefit from a R1bn allocation, I would be loudly celebrating and expressing gratitude to the university. The silence from the UCT SRC tells me maybe they themselves don’t know about such an amount from the university. 

R1bn is too significant an amount to mention only once, especially in an announcement intertwined with UCT’s decision to cut ties with Israel and openly support Palestine. If the announcement was made to bolster confidence among stakeholders and students regarding this decision, why bring up the R1bn — a figure that frankly does not seem to exist or to have benefited UCT students in any practical way this year? This announcement has left more questions than answers.

To put this figure into perspective, R1bn could cover the historical debt of all returning UCT students, pay the accommodation of those in need and cover the tuition fees of unfunded students for 2025. By comparison, in 2020 under then higher education minister Blade Nzimande, R967m was allocated to NSFAS to settle the debt of students who were funded by NSFAS, before the funding improvements that were made in 2018. That amount is said to have assisted 52,914 students nationwide. If UCT truly has R1bn available, it could easily assist the 26,124 students who expected to enrol in 2025, as well as those excluded in previous years. 

A release by UCT dated January 8 complicated the matter further. The university acknowledged cuts to external funding in recent years, particularly from NSFAS and the National Research Foundation (NRF). Corporate donors have also scaled back or withdrawn financial aid. In 2024 alone UCT reportedly received R200m less than anticipated.

Yet the university claims that R1.7bn was spent in 2024 on financial aid for students. That funding seemingly came from various sources, including NSFAS, the NRF, the university’s own funding, departmental awards, government entities, corporate sponsors, NGOs, trusts, alumni and more. Of that, R1.2bn was designated for undergraduate funding, while R500m was allocated to postgraduate funding. 

Yet in the SABC interview the UCT vice-chancellor stated that the university has managed to commit R1bn, more than half of what was spent in 2024 through donor contributions. This claim seems either magical or dubious.

Accountability 

UCT needs to clarify how the R1bn was raised. Was it through cuts to general maintenance and operational costs? Did the university launch a new fundraising campaign? Did the headline, and the vice-chancellor of UCT, mislead the public? Transparency in this matter is crucial — not just for UCT students but also for us at the University of the Witwatersrand.

If UCT has indeed found a way to secure such significant funding we would like to learn from this example and advise our vice-chancellor on how we might secure similar resources to ensure our students can register, access accommodation and graduate. 

This inquiry is important because it defies logic that an institution could claim to have such substantial funds yet fail to use them effectively to assist the thousands of students who have been unable to register for the 2025 academic year. As a leading institution of higher learning UCT has a moral obligation and a duty to be transparent and accountable. 

• Chauke is a community and student activist at the University of the Witwatersrand, where served on the SRC from 2021 to 2023.