MEDIA STATEMENT
BY THE
INKATHA FREEDOM PARTY
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IFP MEDIA
STATEMENT BY: 8 April 2008 The Inkatha Freedom Party would like to urgently call upon the Minister of Education, Ms Naledi Pandor, to intervene at the Mangosuthu University of Technology, where sixteen Sadesmo affiliated students were suspended. The IFPYB has noted with concern that the Minister has kept quiet while the University was rocked by protests and violence. Furthermore, we are concerned that the management of the University has acted unfairly and have shown that they are clearly biased by blaming the violence solely on Sadesmo. The protests were planned by the Student Representative Council of the University, of which some members are not Sadesmo affiliated, but only those affliated to Sadesmo were suspended. The IFPYB is extremely worried about these students who are awaiting a disciplinary hearing, but in the meantime they are losing out on valuable class time. It is going to be very difficult for these students to catch-up on their class work, which might have dire consequences on their marks at the end of the year. If Minister Naledi Pandor is serious about her Department's mission - which is to build a South Africa in which all our people have access to lifelong education and training opportunities - then she is obliged to intervene immediately so that these students can go back to class and make the most of their tertiary education. We cannot allow politics and prejudice to stand in the way of the future of these young students.
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