Modern Quarrying January-February 2015

AROUND THE INDUSTRY

Student funding and financial aid debacle

approximately R152-million has been offered predominantly to returning students. The R152-million has been offered to some 2 090 returning stu- dents and 330 new, first-year stu- dents. It is anticipated that by the completion of registration in mid- February, that Wits will have offered NSFAS funding to about 450 additional students. In total, NSFAS packages will be allocated to about 2 870 students at Wits this year. The university will continue process- ing NSFAS applications as registration takes place over the next few weeks. Wits has consistently awarded the most number of bursaries and schol- arships in the country to students, according to data collected by the Ministerial Committee on the Funding of Universities. Last year, Wits administered about R828-million in student funding which it obtained from various internal and external sources including NSFAS, bursaries, scholarships, governments and the private sector. “The university must also stress that it informed students several times last year that they should prepare to pay their fees should there be insufficient funding from NSFAS. Other issues which are surfacing infrastructural spending, there has been a 15% increase in sales due to a modest recovery in the residential market. In the first three months of the current financial year, the group has sold more bricks into dwellings than in the past few years. “While growth is slow, it is steady and we are confident there is sufficient build- ing activity n the market for Corobrik to successfully gain an improved sharehold- ing in the walling and paving arenas. A key in 2015 will be growing organically as the group implements internal capital projects aimed at competing for moremarket share.” His comments come as the industry recovers from some of the worst years experienced; particularly after the 2010 World Cup Soccer tournament once the infrastructure demanded for that event had been completed. While experiencing a slow resurgence in residential and building activity, the

The higher education sector is at risk due to a lack of substantial funding from the State and other societal actors. The amount of funding available for students in South Africa wanting to pursue tertiary education is inadequate and well below that of international norms in similar developing countries. “This is a national, systematic problem that should be addressed at the highest levels of government if we are committed to investing in the future of our country,” says Wits vice-chancellor and principal, Professor AdamHabib.“We recognise that the funds allocated by the State to the National Students’ Financial Aid Scheme (NSFAS) has quadrupled over the last five years to R9,5-billion. Despite this, the demand for financial aid still outstrips the availability of funds dedicated to higher education study. “Wits, like other higher education institutions in the country, administer funds on behalf of NSFAS. The amount of money allocated to universities from NSFAS in 2015 is limited and universities have been explicitly instructed not to overspend on the amounts allocated to them,” he says. For 2015, Wits has been allo - cated R179-million by NSFAS, of which

Western Cape has picked up significantly. Meyer says several projects that had been suspended are back on track and develop- ment activity in this area, which had been halted following the economic slump and a resultant glut of residential stock, is also showing recovery. Corobrik has identified four entities: government, the building material sup- pliers, contractors and end users or ben- eficiaries, as being the significant players in the company being able to achieve its goal for greater influence in the public sec- tor. Government facilitates building and construction of schools, hospitals, clinics, houses and roads; building material sup- pliers supply the materials to contractor building facilities on government’s behalf, and communities receive quality houses and schools. According to Corobrik commercial director Musa Shangase, each entity has a role to support one another so that chain will not break. www.corobrick.co.za The higher education sector is at risk due to a lack of substantial funding from the State and other societal sectors. are that many students did not apply, or did not apply on time, while others sub- mitted incomplete information, resulting in their applications not being processed timeously,” Habib confirms. “There is definitely a need for more financial aid for students throughout the country and rather than directing misguided anger towards universities, we should be approaching NSFAS, gov- ernment and other sectors of society to collectively invest in developing the high level skills that our country and continent desperately requires,” he urges. www.wits.ac.za

Corobrik upbeat on building sector Brick manufacturer Corobrik is upbeat on prospects for 2015, following an increase in government infrastructural spending since the May 2014 general election. Managing director Dirk Meyer says that added to

Optimistic about the future: Corobrik managing director Dirk Meyer.

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MODERN QUARRYING

January - February 2015