This comes after the students earlier took to the Fourth Raadsaal in Bloemfontein during provincial Education MEC Tate Makgoe’s annual budget vote speech, threatening to strike outside as they alleged that the Premier’s Office was not forthcoming on the reasons for the delays in paying the allowances. The matter was then reportedly handled by the Premier’s Youth Advisor, Tswelopele Manabile, who would not respond when questioned on the matter, stating that it was not newsworthy.

The group accepted Manabile’s word and waited again for over a month. This morning, an anonymous source from within the group told OFM News that the students had intended to march from the UFS Bloemfontein campus to the Premier’s Office. However, before they could, they then received an SMS from the university stating that the allowance payments would be processed tomorrow. The student, who has requested to remain anonymous out of fear of victimisation, tells us how the whole ordeal affected her. 

Meanwhile, questions were sent to Manabile, as well as the Premier’s spokesperson, Tiisetso Makhele. By the time this article was published, officials of the Premier’s Office had not yet responded.

OFM News