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Blade Nzimande

CAPE TOWN. – A funding crisis is threatening to disrupt South African universities that had been hit before by student unrest over fee increases, authorities warned on Monday.

Amid growing discontent among students, the government said it is still deliberating over next year’s university fees.

Minister of Higher Education and Training Blade Nzimande said a decision on university fee increases for 2017 will be made before the end of the month.

But student leaders have threatened to shut down universities across the country should the government implement a fee increase. Student leaders were meeting on Monday to discuss possible action once fee increases were imposed.

A number of universities have said zero fee increase would lead to retrenchments among university faculties.

“Within the next week or two, we should have arrived at a common understanding as to what is going to happen in 2017 . . . There must be certainty for students, there must be certainty for universities,” Nzimande said.

The Council on Higher Education submitted recommendations for 2017 fee adjustments to Nzimande last week.

The minister had been expected to make an announcement on Friday, but the briefing was cancelled. For lack of funding, universities would start retrenching or close down certain programmes, Nzimande said.

Also on Monday, the opposition Democratic Alliance Student Organisation (DASO) said it is strongly opposed to campus shutdowns by student organisations. – Xinhua.