OUTA lays bare the rot in higher education - and hails the “brave souls” who blew the whistle…T

The dreams of thousands of students have been shattered by corruption in the higher education sector. Much of that has been exposed by the Organisation Undoing Tax Abuse (OUTA). In this interview with BizNews, OUTA's Investigations Manager, Rudie Heyneke speaks about the corruption reports it has issued since 2018; the “three brave souls” who triggered OUTA’s investigations; their sacrifices, victimisation, and persecution; the leaked voice recordings containing damning allegations about a patronage network implicating Minister Blade Nzimande, National Financial Aid Scheme (NSFAS) Board Chair Dr Ernest Khosa, and several others; their denials of wrongdoing - and the ultimatum from students to President Cyril Ramaphosa to fire the Minister or face “radical” protest. Heyneke also denies accusations that OUTA has become politicised, saying: “…there’s no way that OUTA will become involved in politics”. As for the ruling African National Congress (ANC) calling on members to pray for the party’s renewal, he says: “Nothing is getting better. The same promises were made last year on the 8th of January celebrations. So to pray for change and for service delivery and so on, I do support that. But we will see if that turns into positive action. And if it is prolonged positive action and not only just because there's elections later this year.” - Chris Steyn