Land reform: detail on ANC shifts in policy scarce
ANC conference endorses Zuma’s free tertiary education surprise
The ANC on Wednesday night held a rushed briefing on its key policy decisions without providing significant detail. The main policy areas were land reform, ownership of the South African Reserve Bank, free higher education, governance at state-owned entities and communications. The conference endorsed President Jacob Zuma’s announcement that the government would introduce fully subsidised free higher education and training for poor and working-class undergraduate students. This was despite concern that free education was not affordable in the context of the government’s constrained finances, which will result in large spending cuts and tax increases in February’s budget. Business Day earlier this week reported that the Treasury had been blind-sided by the announcement and had also tried hard to persuade Zuma to delay any announcement until delivery of the budget.
Head of the ANC’s subcommittee on health and education, Naledi Pandor, said there was a "very strong call" for the ...
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