via Mugabe scholarship students stranded in SA | SW Radio Africa by Nomalanga Moyo on Tuesday, February 11, 2014
Dozens of Zimbabwean students enrolled at the Cape Peninsula University of Technology on a Robert Mugabe scholarship have been barred from lectures and thrown out of residential halls, because the government has not paid.
More than 100 Zim students, including those in their final year, have reportedly been affected, with most of them reduced to begging friends for their upkeep.
One of the affected students told SW Radio Africa correspondent Lionel Saungweme that students’ fees were already in arrears as the government failed to release last term’s grants to enable them to pay.
“The students have tried to contact Minister Christopher Mushowe, who is also the Presidential Fund director, but were told he was on holiday,” Saungweme said.
The student told Saungweme that they have not contacted the Zim Embassy in South Africa for fear of being victimised by the country’s dreaded central intelligence operatives.
“There is fear amongst the students that government officials may think they are complaining by approaching the embassy for help and victimise them as a result.
“But the plight of the students does not speak well of the government and President Mugabe should be ashamed to be associated with such a poorly-run scheme,” Saungweme added.
The Presidential Scholarship Fund is supposed to pay for tuition, accommodation and other needs of students from underprivileged backgrounds.
But over the years, students whose families have established links to ZANU PF, have tended to benefit at the expense of deserving cases.
Zimbabwe has an estimated 7,000 students enrolled at various South African universities under the presidential scheme.
Most of the students on Mugabe’s scheme have at some point been left stranded due to non-payment of grants, exposing them to abuse and risky behaviour such as prostitution and stealing.
Last year Fort Hare University was said to be owed more than R40 million in unpaid student fees by the broke Zimbabwe government.
President Mugabe and his party ZANU PF regularly portray the scheme as a success story and proof of their commitment to elevating educational standards.
Observers however say the country’s educational system will be better served if the government invested in its own collapsing institutions and paid for these students to study locally.
COMMENTS
Well at least they are stranded there and not here
This former colony will never be a country again!
The so called president has left for Malawi with George Charamba, so he can pocket another $500 000 in travel allowance. He is not interested in staying at home tackling the floods problem, corruption and liquidity crunch.
Strangely enough, Cameron has cancelled his trip to the Middle East to show leadership and be with communities affected by floods.
Keep your Britain, I will keep my Zimbabwe.
Oh, Rhodesia, rise from the ashes and cast away this terrorist government.
Unwrong…are you trying to defend this rotten government.
Oh no, not even a little bit. This government will receive no flattery from me. I just wonder how far along the educational system of a continued Rhodesian government would be faring.
Does he care. Manje manje muchamunzwa kuti aenda somewhere. Ndege dzacho handiti adzipedza. They can not service them because there is no money. If he enjoys FREE flights with his entourage what do you expect. Company inogwadama chete. Iyezvino they are busy to raise money for his birth day party when vana vawa kapromisa kubhadharira fees vachitambura. Mwari tinzwireiwo tsitsi. Mudhara uyu MUROYI mukuru. I think its HIGH TIME people like SIMBA Makoni should strengthen his political party, because there is need to bring in new faces. Vamwewo ava zvinenge zvakona. Please SIMBA, make sure your party is not inflitrated by people with previous records, like pawange wabatana naDabengwa. Remember akadya mari yeZambezi Water Project, so vanhu vanozviziva izvozvo. Do not entertain chancers. ZANU YAKAORA KUDHARA.
Who will not travel if offered $500000 per trip. Africa people is rotten.
Mugabe went back home to Malawi to ask to a burial site when he dies and consult his ancestors! let him be! LOL
Hahahaha. 😀
Is it indeginization to send our children to study in foreign lands when we have our own indegineous universities. Our we sencire with the indeginization policy or it’s just talk.
Yet Bona lived in a million Dollar apartment while studying abroad.These young people only require a fraction of that just a fraction.
These students in S Africa universities should be studying in our many new universities but they went there on party partisanship so let them test real life like our children studying locally.They must get part time jobs to supplement their grants, most students from poor families do that.These students are from well being families who abused the system using party partisanship approach so they are not used to working for their earnings but free gifts.
The positive effects of worsening economy gives us a chance to see things we took for granted for so long and the looters never expected things to turn this way so quickly after the election victory.
The Minister is “on holiday” – a luxury many cannot afford but isn’t the whole entity away on holiday? How “leaders” can be so unconscionably irresponsible is a bold declaration of contempt of the people. Yes, agree with various writers as these students are hand picked anyway, part of the elite. Again, why not be loyal to great institutions like UZ? Hypocrisy, total hypocrisy.
Read “1984”, if you haven’t already done so.
Mara, vele when is Gukurahundi Mugabe dying?
Eish bafowethu, we are sick and tired of this two-legged midnight-dark skinned creature!!!!
I think he is dead and what we see walking around is a body double created by Chombo
The President’s Fund was founded and supported by The Mashonaland Turf Club ………Horse racing profits earned by white Settler Farmers.
Like ZESA, like CSC, Like ZBC, Like NRZ, like all the other Parastatals these were all INDIGENIZED in the early days of looting era.
It will take extraordinary men and women to right the wrongs done by the maggots that run Zimbabwe today. One cannot freshen something rotten.
Gorongoza you may well be right about the burial plot in Malawi. Mugabe is probably fearful of Cromwell’s fate – he died a natural death but was later dug up and hanged.
Vana ava havaendeswe kuchikoro namugabe. Asi kuti nemari yehurumende. Zvino hurumende haichisina mari, vana vabva vatadza kubhadharirwa mari. Zvabva zvabuda pachena kuti makore ese tainyeperwa kuti mugabe ari kuendesa vana kuchikoro. Zanu yoora rasai kubin.
Mugabe has numerous educational degrees, all of which he got when he was in rhodesian prisons
I suppose the minister deliberately went on holiday to avoid being questioned, ahh that’s being short sighted. Address the problem Mr minister don’t run away. Now what will these students do, just let go of the hard work, all in vain, fund them from hour own pockets!
it would have made sense if all the money was put in local universities,after all local is lekker.Why send kids to a foreign land where they will be an embarassement .Honestly speaking this country needs divine intervention ,but,people need to seek God first .God is angry with the proliferation of prosperity churches .Look at Chiadzwa,diamonds are fast disappearing because they r not benefiting His children. Lord have mercy,l lift your name high. Knight templa.
This z all jus politics what can the C.I.O do to the students if they go complaining to the Zim Embassy¿ :O