Culture of entitlement sure to collapse varsities

19 March 2021 - 07:39
By reader letter
Some Wits students protested against the financial exclusion of some students with historical debt. File photo.
Image: SIHLE MAKU/THE TIMES Some Wits students protested against the financial exclusion of some students with historical debt. File photo.

When the ANC were voted into political power, they created much expectation in the hearts and minds of millions of South Africans.

The perception that they would provide, has created unrealistic expectations. R1bn is currently owed to Wits University by students who simply do not have the financial means to pay and therefore creating a problem so big that the university will no longer be a going concern in 12 months' time.

Rioting and intense anger, aimed at the university and minister of education, will not solve this problem of “nonpayment” that has mushroomed over the past two decades.

Somebody has to pay and once again, if the government buckles, it will be the taxpayer who will have to bail out the university.

It is of great concern that the culture of “entitlement” has spread like a cancer, enveloping almost all spheres of life in this country.

Somebody died while the rioting was happening; who takes responsibility for this senseless death?

Peter Bachtis, Lakefield, Benoni