Minister of Higher Education announces the deregistration of four private colleges

by Limpho Nonkonyane

The Department of Higher Education recently announced that Damelin, Lyceum, City Varsity and Icesa City Campus would be deregistered as private institutions after failing to submit financial statements to the department.

This announcement created a panic with some students posing the question of whether they will be refunded or not.

According to the South African Government News Agency, the Minister of Higher Education, Blade Nzimande, states that the above-mentioned private institutions requested an extension from last year’s obligation to this year but still failed to submit the required financial statements that the Department required.

He asserted that these four institutions are unorganised as the Department received complaints from students daily with most issues still not resolved.

Minister Nzimande further explained:

“These complaints extend to the other brands such as INTEC College (Pty) Ltd and Damelin Correspondence College (Pty) Ltd, which fall under the jurisdiction of the Quality Council of Trades and Occupations (QCTO). The QCTO has not been able to restore stability within these two institutions and students continue to be exploited.”

The minister stated that due to these deregistrations, SETA could not stabilise its relationship with the Educor institutions, causing students to suffer.

A student from Damelin’s Braamfontein campus told Mail & Guardian that these private institutions served as a beacon of hope for students who didn’t qualify to be admitted into public universities.

A statement was posted by MDN News, an online publication on X (formerly Twitter), where the Department of Higher Education announced the cancellation of these private colleges.

Many X users took to the comment section to express their concern over this matter.

One user compared Damelin to the infamous Facebook rapist Thabo Bester.

Another user posed a question:

While another user said:

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