Johannesburg – The African National Congress Youth League (ANCYL) has lambasted the Gauteng City Region Academy (GCRA) bursary programme for failing to pay fees for students.
In a strongly worded statement released at the weekend, the ANCYL in Gauteng said: “It is with profound disappointment that we have learned of the gross incompetence and outright negligence at the GCRA, resulting in a large number of students being unable to pay their tuition fees”.
The ANCYL added: “Among these students are three top-performing medical students from the University of Cape Town (UCT), whose futures are now at risk due to the failure of the GCRA to fulfill its obligations.
“These students, who should be celebrating their academic excellence, are instead devastated, unable to register for their fifth year of study in 2025 because the GCRA has not paid their tuition fees.
“We are in possession of an email sent by a frustrated fifth-year student to the GCRA, pleading for assistance regarding unpaid fees.
“This email, like many others, has gone unanswered, highlighting the CEO’s complete disregard for the plight of young people under the institution’s care.”
The ANCYL demanded the “immediate removal of the GCRA CEO” whom they accused of incompetency.
“This individual’s incompetence has caused unnecessary suffering to students, betrayed the trust placed in the institution, and undermined its mandate to support youth development,” the statement said.
“As part of our congress resolution, we demand that the CEO be replaced with a young person – qualified, credible, and committed to addressing the needs of young people.”
The GCRA bursary programme is responsible for building a pool of skilled, capable and ethical workforce for the Gauteng City Region.
The bursary programme is open to all qualifying youth, with particular preference given to youth from Gauteng, who wish to study for an undergraduate and/or post-graduate programme at an accredited and registered Post School Education and Training institution in South Africa.
The bursary covers the full cost of the study, with conditions, as stipulated in the bursary contract.
Last month, the Democratic Alliance (DA) said: “GCRA learners continue to suffer without much-needed learning resources, yet the Gauteng Department of Education Head of Department Edward Mosuwe is shielding its Chief Executive Officer who is implicated in maladministration, corruption and fraud as identified by the Auditor General”.
The DA added: “It is unacceptable that GCRA is failing to provide necessary support to young people like learnerships, bursaries, and apprenticeships because of a corrupt official.
“The recommendations were made by the AG that the department’s HOD should open a criminal case against all officials involved in this corruption scandal and inform the Treasury, AG and the department’s MEC.
“Instead of implementing such straightforward recommendations, the HOD opted to appoint a law firm to look at the matter.
“This is delaying tactic costing department more money instead of actioning [the] AG’s recommendations.”
The DA said it has written to the Gauteng Department of Education MEC Matome Chiloane demanding that he must urgently take action against the HOD for failing to implement the AG’s recommendations.
While, The Bulrushes could not reach the GCRA for comment, Inside Education reports that the Gauteng education department has denied “malicious intent” regarding the student funding concerns at the GCRA.
Inside Education quotes spokesperson Steve Mabona as saying the department was aware of the challenges and was doing everything in its power to deal with the situation.
“We acknowledge that we did experience some delays in making necessary payments to some institutions, which have already been resolved as payments were made accordingly,” Mabona was quoted as saying on Friday, (3 January 2025).
