Cape Town - As Stage 3 load shedding returns today, it has emerged universities spend more than R2 million daily on generator diesel for Stage 3 rolling power outages – and the institutions collectively have spent R7.4m since 2020, MPs were told.
Figures presented by Higher Education, Science and Innovation Minister Blade Nzimande, in a written Parliamentary reply to DA MP Nomsa Tarabella-Marchesi, show UCT and Stellenbosch universities are among institutions of higher learning that spent the most on diesel and generators.
Tarabella-Marchesi asked Nzimande for the amount institutions of higher learning spent daily on diesel every time the country experienced stages 3 to 6 load shedding.
Nzimande provided only Stage 3 amounts.
In the Western Cape, the Cape Peninsula University of Technology spends R30 500 daily; UCT, R98 510; Stellenbosch University’s four campuses, R194 221; and the University of the Western Cape, R21 871.
There were no figures for the University of South Africa.
Nzimande recently told MPs his department was awaiting reports of plans from institutions on how they dealt with load shedding and ensuring classes weren’t disrupted.