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SANU STUDENTS TO TAKE GOVT TO COURT IF ...

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MBABANE – Should government fail to give in to their demands, SANU students will go to the highest court of the land.
SANU is an acronym for the Southern African Nazarene University.


This, they revealed yesterday at the gateway of the Ministry of Labour and Social Security where they had converged to deliver a petition.
Thulani Mkhaliphi, the Principal Secretary (PS) at the ministry, received the petition on behalf of the ministry after approximately two hours. The PS had initially requested the representatives of the Students Representative Council (SRC) to be allowed inside the ministry offices where they could hand over the petition.


However, after consultation with students, the SRC President, Thulumuzi Gubevu Simelane, announced that they would not entertain the request of the PS but demanded that he leaves his office and come to address the students in person at the entrance of the inter-ministerial complex.


demand


“As per the instruction of the students, as their representatives, we the SRC have decided not to go into the PS’s offices but we demand that he comes down here to address the students,” said the president.
It is then that Mkhaliphi finally gave in to the SANU students’ demand and was escorted by members of the Royal Eswatini Police Service (REPS) to the ministry gateway where the students had assembled.
REPS’ Operational Support Service Unit (OSSU) wing members had also been deployed to tighten security. It was Simelane who read the contents of the petition before he could hand it over to the PS who was also in the company of other government officials.


petition


The same petition was also given to the Ministry of Education and it was received by the Acting Director of Education and Training Mpendulo Khumalo.
“If the ministry would continue to be reluctant, adamant and arrogant, we are prepared to take it to the highest court in the land, such is not a threat but a promise,” read the petition in part.
The bone of contention remained government’s failure to issue the students’ allowances or at least provide a specific date on which the allowances would be issued out.


Among the demands the students highlighted in the petition was that government immediately released all remaining student allowances.
“All along, we have been trying to engage the very ministry on a round for  negotiations, however, such didn’t yield any positive results hence we want these allowances now,” said the president.


Reduction


Further, the students were aggrieved on the reduction of book, uniform and practical allowances and stated through the petition, all fees and allowances were expected to hike with time as compelled by the increase in the cost of living and the fact that payment of tax by civil servants who were their parents also increased yearly.
“Thus, it sounds like an insult and diametrically a breach of contract that the ministry would decrease allowances anyhow even without the involvement of us students as partners.”
The students also indicated insufficient tuition fees as another grievance and said government should not freeze tuition fee at a maximum of E16 200.


The lack of project allowance was also cited as problematic and the students said they have been negotiating with government to allocate this money for year four nursing students since 2010 when SANU officially became a university.
Students also demanded that under provision of scholarship awards to year one students, especially for the ECCD programme, the ministry provided scholarships to all qualifying students other than awarding a certain number of students.


criterion


According to the students, they did not understand the criterion used by government in the selection process of students to be granted the scholarships.
Finally, the students cited to be aggrieved by government’s decision-making. They accused government of being unfair such that when they requested for a little adjustment or increment in allowances, it advised them to consult with SHEC, an entity they have never heard of and are not sure if it exists.

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