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The ANC-aligned SA Student Congress (Sasco) has demanded that ANC President Cyril Ramaphosa arrange for the ANC-led government to establish a “student bank.”
It also required Ramaphosa to ensure that any South African student whose family income is less than R600,000 a year qualify for government-sponsored funding through the National Student Financial Aid Scheme (NSFAS).
Currently, only students whose annual household income is less than R350,000 per year are eligible for NSFAS funding.
Sasco’s demands were made by its president Bamanye Matiwane on Sunday, during the virtual celebrations of the 29th anniversary of the organization.
Matiwane said that a “student bank” would better understand the financial obligations and pressures of students.
“A student bank that understands that before obtaining NSAFS, you have nothing as a student. We want a student bank that can help students but not take away students, ”Matiwane said.
Sasco also demanded a “swift” appointment by the NSFAS board and a quick delivery of laptops to all underprivileged students, said Matiwane, who spoke before Ramaphosa’s keynote address.
According to Matiwane, Sasco was also demanding that the Ramaphosa government introduce a “24-hour economy” to stimulate consumer demand and job creation.
Matiwane said Sasco also wanted to see the “immediate appointment of a pro-poor and working class NYDA (National Agency for Youth Development) board.”
But the big demand was for “an immediate end to corruption” in the ANC-led government.
Matiwane said: “Comrade President, we know that you do not have a police station and handcuffs at your home. But we say that we demand the immediate arrest of all those who are robbing the masses of our people and the poor.
“They must be arrested regardless of their national office before it is too late. We need to renew the ANC ”.
