Image: Dane McDonald
Tripling research funding and free meals for students are among party’s election pledges
The Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) have promised to triple national research funding should the party emerge victorious in next month’s general election.
The party, which is currently the third largest in South Africa’s Parliament with 10.7 per cent of seats, makes the promise in its election manifesto alongside other costly pledges relating to higher education.
The manifesto, at 255 pages, dwarfs those of the two bigger parties: the African National Congress and the Democratic Alliance, with 55 and 53 pages respectively. Many pledges revolve around expanding access to higher education, including offering free accommodation and food for those who need it.
Cherrel Africa, political studies expert at the University of the Western Cape, told Research Professional News that the prominence of higher education in the manifesto speaks to the fact that the EFF has mobilised support among students through its engagement with the #FeesMustFall movement, which started in 2015.
The #FeesMustFall movement advocates for affordable higher education, highlighting issues such as fees hikes and institutional racism, through protests, sit-ins and clashes with police. Supporting these issues has made the EFF prominent on student representative councils in the country.
Expanding free education
In its manifesto, the EFF says it will provide free education for all up to a first degree, as well as provide additional scholarships. By 2026, it vows to quadruple the number of rooms available for students, planning to fulfil that pledge by making use of dilapidated government buildings and abandoned buildings that are being rented out illegally.
In addition, each student will be eligible for two warm meals per day and all students will be allowed to travel on public transport for free.
The EFF also pledges to pay a once-off grant of R1 million (US$54,000) to all Black graduates pursuing doctoral studies at accredited institutions, including overseas, by 2027.
Academic affairs
At the level of academic research, an EFF government will mandate 10 per cent of all academic publications in South Africa to be written in an official language besides English and Afrikaans by 2026, the party says in its manifesto.
It will also establish a digital library which will buy the rights of every academic publication that has ever been published so that all students can access them free of charge.
In addition to tripling research funding by 2026, the party says it will improve the pay and working conditions of lecturers and professors.
Academics will be encouraged to continue with teaching and research and not take up administrative posts in private or public institutions, it says.
Revenue plans
The EFF says it will raise the capital to fulfil its pledges by “maximally” collecting taxes with the aim of a 100 per cent increase in current annual tax collections.
The party says this will be done by combating tax avoidance, levying a wealth tax on the ultra-rich and expanding the tax base to include e-commerce.
To fund its education pledges, the EFF will also introduce a 2 per cent education and training tax for private companies with turnovers of R50 million or more.
Automation and robotics used by corporations have also been earmarked for taxation, with proceeds funding job creation and skills development.
However, Africa says the EFF will face “severe constraints” in the implementation of many of its pledges given the current economic situation in South Africa.
Research Professional News aims to cover the science, technology and higher education promises of major political parties contesting the country’s general election in May.