When we look at food prices in South Africa, for example, my colleagues at the Bureau of Economic Research (BER) say that, between January 2022 and April 2023, the gap between CPI headline inflation and inflation on food and non-alcoholic beverages increased from 0,0 to 7,1 percentage points at its highest. In August 2023 it had recovered to a 3,2 percentage points gap. This has been one of the big drivers of higher inflation over the past two years.
A look at the types of food products that have been affected most by the crisis makes one honestly wonder how students manage to feed themselves healthily, perform academically and on the sports field, and grow as leaders – all on R1 058,75 a month (that’s R35 a day, and bear in mind that a litre of milk averages at R14,49 in the Western Cape).
The comparison for commonly purchased food items shows that staple vegetables such as onions, potatoes and sweet potatoes have gone up by as much as 30% year-on-year, while maize meal has gone up by between 10% and 20%, as have chicken, polony, ham, tea and instant coffee. Ditto for widely available fruits such as apples, pears and bananas.
Also, the price of electricity and other fuels has risen by +15,1% (2022:2023). What is more, persistent loadshedding has necessitated the purchase of batteries, candles, lamp oil, power banks and the like. Stellenbosch University (SU) will spend R70 million this year on diesel and renting additional generators – just to remain operational and on track for academic performance.
Consumers have recently enjoyed – for the first time in the South African Reserve Bank (SARB) Repurchase (Repo) Rate cycles – a breather, when rates remained the same. However, fuel price increases could counter some of the gains that SARB has won in taming inflation. Once fuel prices increase, road freight transporters need to raise their pricing accordingly. That cost will, in most cases, be borne by the consumer. You and I will pay more for … well, everything.
How is the cost-of-living crisis impacting SU?
The short answer is: hugely. Amongst our students, it’s having an enormous impact on the need for support beyond assistance with fees, and is compounded by all the other challenges that poor people face.
Recent external research shows that nearly 20% of senior students have considered dropping out of their courses because of concerns over money. Many are cutting back on food shopping to the extent that they manage only one meal a day – or every other day – and they are constantly worried about rent, fuel and travel costs. All these costs have risen hugely.
The research suggests that students from low-income households and postgraduates are disproportionately affected. A number of crises have been coming along these last few years, of which the impact of Covid has been the worst. The challenge that we're facing isn't just the cost-of-living crisis; it is experienced alongside the long-term impact of Covid on our community.
Ubuntu is perhaps most profoundly captured in a Nguni proverb which, translated literally, goes that “a person is a person through others”. This expresses an indigenous African philosophy common among the Bantu-speaking people of southern and eastern Africa.
Ubuntu can be understood as "a profound sense of interdependence and emphasizes that our true human potentials can only be realised in partnership with others". This is something that most of us understand or, frankly, we wouldn’t have been the great donors to SU that we are.
But over the last year, as fundraisers, we have become concerned about the cost-of-living crisis resulting in a “cost-of-giving" crisis. Clearly, many people still want to support good causes, and charities and public benefit organisations are needed now more than ever. However, it is also clear that there is less money and time to go round.
I wouldn’t go so far as to say that the crisis is killing our sense of ubuntu, but the pressure definitely is constraining our generosity … just when we need it most.
The student debt crisis has arisen through these costs not being sufficiently funded by the government
We need not just take note; we must recognise that these 4 850 bright, talented young people – who come from homes with an annual income of less (often way less) than R350 000 (that is €17 000 or £14 500) – cannot afford their university education and their own cost of living.
We need proper resourcing coming into the sector if the current National Student Financial Aid Scheme (NSFAS) model – funding way below the real costs of living – is to work.
Now, we can all complain that that NSFAS is unsustainable. We can all speculate on when it might collapse. Or we can launch a broad call on stakeholders for public support of higher education that would go some way in assisting SU in its fundraising.
Universities are for the ages; graduates are for the country
Student numbers in South Africa have doubled since democracy and, for many families, higher education is a route to a better future for their children. We know that, when graduates enter the world of work, their average starting salary is 113% more than that of a minimum-wage worker.
Therefore, a good degree is crucial in lifting families out of poverty and contributing to the skills base of our country.
What can you do?
You may have been following your own funding strategy. But if you haven’t, I think the best thing that any donor can do is to give as much unrestricted funding to universities as possible; to respect the work that the university is doing and give us credit for knowing what's needed at a university, and then make it as easy as possible for us to deliver the services that we’re great at.
… Consider helping our NSFAS students with the R81 million shortfall created by the funding cuts in February 2023.
… Consider helping the approximately 4 000 students from the so-called “missing middle” (those with a household income between R350 000 and R600 000 a year), whose parents have been put under enormous strain by the cost-of-living crisis in South Africa.
The spirit of giving
Usually, I don’t like to end on a quotation, but today, I’m going to do so; simply because I really can’t put it any better myself.
It is Mother Teresa who said: "We know only too well that what we are doing is nothing more than a drop in the ocean. But if the drop were not there, the ocean would be missing something."
Please know that we at SU really appreciate all and everything – big and small – that you do in support of our students and our mission. We all are because of each other.