Varsity fee probe hearings to begin this week

Johannesburg - The commission looking into university fees starts public hearings this week.

The first hearings are on Wednesday and Thursday in Pretoria, then Friday in Vanderbijlpark.

This first set of hearings – which the commission’s work outline says focus on an “overview of the relevant issues” – includes hearings in Thohoyandou, Durban, East London, Cape Town, Bloemfontein and Kimberley.

These initial hearings are expected to run until September.

The Commission of Inquiry into Higher Education and Training was established in January by President Jacob Zuma following protests at campuses around the country. It’s headed by Judge Jonathan Heher.

At the time, it was given eight months to do the investigation, then two months to submit a report to the president. Last month, Zuma extended the commission, giving it a deadline of June 30 next year to do the investigation; it must now also submit a preliminary report to the president by November 15.

Spokesman for the commission Musa Ndwandwe said that the consultative engagement had proved more time consuming than previously envisaged, and Judge Heher stretched the time frames.

“The commission’s chairperson requested an extension to the commission’s delivery date following a thorough consultative process with all stakeholders in the higher education and training sector. It was during this stakeholder engagement process that it became apparent to all, not only the commission, that the process required a comprehensive cross-examination of a number of issues and that the original time frames would not be sufficient,” said Ndwandwe.

The commission received 179 written submissions after publishing a call for interested respondents in April. The deadline for these written submissions was extended by one month to the end of June.

Submissions received included policy documents from the DA, National Treasury and Department of Higher Education and Training. Submissions were also received from universities across the country, 110 students and 33 interested individuals.

The oral hearings have been divided into eight sets, each looking at a different aspect of the commission’s mandate.

The first set of public hearings starts on Wednesday and the second set is planned for the first week in October, where the issue of post-school education and training in South Africa will be addressed.

According to the outline of the work, the oral hearings will also “entail an analysis of the broader policy decisions made by the government in respect of higher education and training".