The Feasibility of Free Higher Education in South Africa; Prospects and Challenges

The advent of democracy in South Africa brought a radical transition in educational policies and programmesthrough the promulgation of various legislation, policies, laws and documents such as the 1996 Constitution, Freedom Charter and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) which advocate for the realization of free elementary education. This paper postulates that jurisprudentially speaking, free elementary education has been achieved as per the provisions of these laws and instruments. Seemingly, the reality on the ground is that free higher education has not yet been achieved despite students demand which fact has previously fueled them to engage in serious protests. Therefore, attention should be drawn to the possible feasibility of free higher education since it has been an issue of concern. This paper recommends that higher education should be made free owing to academic excellence and legislation to that effect should be passed to allow proper enforcement and compliance.