President Jacob Zuma is still consulting several government entities on how to respond to the recommendations of the Heher Commission on the funding of free tertiary education.

Delivering his annual address to the National Council of Provinces‚ parliament’s second chamber‚ Zuma said he will soon be announcing his decision on the recommendations of the Heher Commission of Inquiry that probed the feasibility of free tertiary education.

The Heher Commission handed its report to Zuma at the end of August this year but the President has not revealed its recommendations to the public.

But a leaked version of it apparently stated that the country was currently in no position to afford the provision of free tertiary education.

The publication reported that Zuma was expected to announce a free tertiary education plan that was apparently crafted by his future son-in-law‚ Morris Masutha‚ which was projected to cost R40-billion in the 2018 academic year.

However in his address to the NCOP‚ Zuma did not make any major pronouncements when dealing with the issue‚ only stating that he was still in consultation with an inter-ministerial committee and the Presidential Fiscal Committee to decide how to respond to the Heher Commission report.

Zuma said he was aware of public anxiety regarding the funding of higher education.

He said he was also confident of an increase in this year’s matric pass rate.

“As the matric pupils pass‚ the challenge becomes funding for further education. The Inter-Ministerial Committee responsible for higher education funding‚ chaired by the Minister in the Presidency‚ working with the Presidential Fiscal Committee‚ are assisting me in processing the report of the Heher Commission. I will be making an announcement soon on the report‚” said Zuma.