Data from the Ministry of Finance show that the cash-strapped Harare regime forked out some R86 million (about US$11.6 million) in school fees for children studying at several South African universities between February 2009 and last month. The children are beneficiaries of the Presidents Scholarship Fund set up by President Robert Mugabe to assist talented but disadvantaged students.
But the Fund has been exclusively reserved for children and relatives of top politicians from Mugabes party and others with links to the Harare administration. Private radio station Radio VOP reported last week that the money was transferred through the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe (RBZ) in South African rands between February last year and January this year. The biggest beneficiary of the scholarship was Fort Hare University which gobbled up about R48 million in just a year. Other South African colleges that benefited from governments free
spending since last year are the universities of Venda, Johannesburg, Walter Sisulu, Rhodes, Limpopo, Cape Peninsula, Western Cape, Cape Town and Kwazulu-Natal.
On 10 January 2009, the RBZ transferred R1 million to Fort Hare, R176 175 to KwaZulu-Natal and R300 000 to Rhodes University. On 10 June 2009 the following transfers were made: Cape Peninsula R3 073 877, Limpopo R240 186, and Cape Town R83 040. On 15 September 2009 the following transfers were made: Fort Hare R10 million, Venda R3 million, Johannesburg R2 million and Walter Sisulu R2 million. On 29 November 2009 more transfers were made to: Fort Hare R17 677 600, Venda R7 357 306, Johannesburg R550 690 and Walter Sisulu R3 105 730. Another R35.8 million (about US$4.8 million) was paid to various South African universities on January 25 this year.
This included R20 million paid to Fort Hare, R4 million each to universities of Venda and Johannesburg, and R3.5 million made out to Rhodes University. The revelations show the insensitivity of the Harare government which has allocated less than US$30 million to both the Ministry of Higher and Tertiary Education and the Ministry of Education, Arts, Sports and
Culture in the 2010 national budget. The government is splashing money on the education of the chefs children while the state of local schools, universities and colleges leaves a lot to be desired.
Education Minister David Coltart and Higher Education Minister Stan Mudenge are left to battle the lone battle of reviving collapsed infrastructure at government schools and universities.
They also have to juggle the material requirements of schools and the demands of disgruntled teachers clamouring for higher pay. Zimbabwe National Students Union (Zinasu) president Joshua Chinyere attacked the government for what he described as outrageous extravagance at a time when local universities were crying out for funding. This is shocking and it really shows that some people in government are not serious with education. We have thousands of brilliant students in the country, that are not politically connected but who could learn at local universities using the money they are wasting at South African colleges, said Chinyere.
Zimbabwe has about 10 universities and 34 teachers colleges and polytechnics all of which are struggling to survive due to lack of funding. A former top aide of Mugabe and now Manicaland governor, Christopher Mushowe administers the presidential scholarship fund although the final decision to transfer the funds rests with the minister of finance.
(Additional reporting Radio VOP)
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