Johannesburg – The R16 million gained from the sale of the premier’s official residence in December last year would be used to fund the university studies of 40 deserving students over three years.
This is in addition to more than R800m the Gauteng provincial government has budgeted for bursaries alone for higher education.
This was revealed by Premier David Makhura when he delivered his State of the Province Address (Sopa) in the legislature which sat at the Greenhills Stadium in Randfontein on the West Rand on Monday.
It was, however, the R16m pledge which drew wide applause from hundreds of people who attended Sopa.
The house in question, in upmarket Bryanston, Sandton, was the subject of a political tussle between the governing ANC and the DA.
It was bought for R11.5m in March 2004 for the then premier, Mbhazima Shilowa, and according to the DA’s Jack Bloom, the province had allegedly spent more than R20m since its purchase for its upkeep, including many repairs and refurbishments.
However, in 2014, when Makhura became premier, taking over from his predecessor Nomvula Mokonyane, he decided not to use the house as his official residence.
Last year, the premier also recommended that it be put on sale and the money derived should be channelled towards the education of Gauteng students.
On Monday, Makhura delivered on his promise.
“In ensuring that all deserving learners are able to access higher education, and as part of developing the skilled human resources required by our modern economy, we have invested more than R800 million in bursaries for higher education. Our target is to reach R1 billion by 2019."
“Over the next three years an additional amount of R16m, out of the sale of the premier’s official residence, has been set aside to fund the cost of tertiary education of 40 academically deserving students,” he said.
Apart from alleviating challenges facing higher education students, Makhura also promised to intervene to help parents who last year experienced problems with the online registration of their children to help them access local schools.
“There are parents who are also concerned that the online registration process has made it difficult for them to know whether their children will have spaces in the schools close to where they live."
“MEC Panyaza Lesufi has already publicly apologised for the inconvenience. We will ensure that we obviate all the problems for the next academic year."
“Accordingly, I have directed MEC Lesufi to bring a plan to the next provincial executive council in March in order to avoid similar problems in preparation for the 2018 registration process."
“We have heard your concerns and we are taking action to address them,” Makhura promised.
“We have a huge challenge with regard to the number of new learners who arrive in our schools every year.”