2017 Annual Report

The 2017 academic year was much less turbulent than the previous two years, even though a high level of instability persisted. Student activism returned to being much more campus-based with financial aid and student accommodation being the key issues. Having said this the burning issues of ‘free education for all’ and the demand
for a ‘quality, decolonised education’ were yet to be addressed. The announcement by the state President, of the new bursary system for ‘poor and working class students’ on the 16th of December 2017, came as a surprise.
While there are deep concerns about the sustainability of this new scheme in student funding, it does provide a powerful impetus for social mobility and greater stability in the future. The perennial preoccupation of Universities South Africa (USAf) with long-term sustainability of our public institutions dominated its activities in 2017, at a time when the level of instability in our system was high. This
clearly manifested in the priority projects and programmes adopted or continued in the year under review. Of the many milestones that we realised through engagement in the year under the spotlight, I single out only a few instances below while also shedding light on new initiatives.