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Minister of Higher Education, Science and Technology, Buti Manamela.
Higher Education Minister, Buti Manamela says government is prioritising the reduction of student debt and ensuring campus stability ahead of the 2026 academic year.
Manamela made the remarks in Bloemfontein following the recent violent protests at the University of the Free State. He says the accumulation of historic student debt remains a key governance issue. Manamela says government will engage universities and student leaders to prevent financial exclusion.
Following ongoing student protests, Higher Education and Training Minister, Buti Manamela, is engaging with the leadership and stakeholders at the University of the Free State (UFS) to protect the remainder of the 2025 academic year.https://t.co/2CcGqXSqaQ#GovZAUpdates pic.twitter.com/UUXj2Hibgj
— @SAgovnews (@SAgovnews) October 15, 2025
“We know we’ll be looking into firstly the historic debt, which is one of the major problems. In 2019 we thought that we wiped it out, but it has accumulated which signifies demand and so that’s top on the governance agenda. Secondly, we will have to look at the fact that students who are currently in the system are not financially excluded, and we’ll be having conversations with vice-chancellors and SRCs to iron out some of the hot issues they may be facing on campus.”
VIDEO | Interventions on student protests
