Higher Education Minister Nkabane defends her budget

HIGHER Education Minister Nobuhle Nkabane has lashed out at political parties that rejected the 2025/26 budget for her department in the National Council of Provinces (NCOP) this week.

- MAYIBONGWE MAQHINA

Nkabane accused the parties of being anti-transformation, misogynistic, and doing a disservice to South Africans.

“They are not rejecting the budget of Nobuhle Nkabane. This is not the budget of Nobuhle Nkabane, it is the budget of the people of South Africa,” she said.

This was after the DA led the charge in rejecting the budget during a debate in the NCOP. The party has laid criminal charges against her for allegedly misleading Parliament on the “independent panel” for Sector and Education Training Authorities (SETA) board chairpersons.

The second biggest party had threatened not to vote in favour of budgets of departments that were led by “compromised and corrupt ANC ministers and deputy ministers”, whom President Cyril Ramaphosa did not remove from the Cabinet. DA MP Jean Adriaanse said it was time for Ramaphosa to fire Nkabane and clean out the ANC’s criminal network at the heart of government.