Nzimande said at least 10 institutions, including the University of Johannesburg and the University of KwaZulu-Natal were vandalised while some buildings were torched, with the damages costing more than R32 million.
Students said that they were not willing to back down and would be taking their fight for free higher education to the Union Buildings at a date yet to be announced.
The SA Union of Students gave Higher Education Minister Blade Ndzimande until 5pm on Friday to respond to the list of 15 demands which included the scrapping of historical debt.
Addressing a post-Cabinet briefing on Thursday, Higher Education Minister Blade Nzimande said that no qualifying student would be affected by delays in National Student Financial Aid Scheme (NSFAS).
Higher Education Minister Blade Nzimande said that NSFAS was experiencing a shortfall for the 2021 academic year and this had resulted in the financial aid scheme not being able to confirm funding for new university students.
Higher Education Minister Blade Nzimande said that due to the delays in the National Student Financial Aid Scheme (NSFAS) confirming the funding eligibility for first-time students, the registration period will be extended for them by two weeks.
Higher Education Minister Blade Nzimande says thousands of health science students will be trained to educate the public about vaccinations and to help the health department with its rollout programme.
Higher Education Minister Blade Nzimande is briefing the media on the state of readiness of tertiary institutions to start the acaddemic year.
Student leaders have rejected Higher Education Minister Blade Nzimande's proposal of a 4.7% university fee increment.
Last week, Higher Education Minister Blade Nzimande announced that he's proposed a 4.7% increase on university tuition fees for the 2021 academic year and a 6.7% hike on accomodation fees.
The minister on Thursday said his department was working towards regulating the country’s tuition fees in an effort to make it more affordable.
The Department of Higher Education said that COVID-19 has had a varying impact on institutions and that it was for this reason that the completion of the academic year would happen at different times for each university.
Higher learning was disrupted and severely affected by the COVID-19 pandemic, with many students struggling with access to the internet and laptops.
Students at the university have accuse management of not offering enough support since the beginning of the lockdown.
Minister Blade Nzimande briefs media on Higher Education, Science and Innovation sector’s response to Coronavirus COVID-19 lockdown alert level.
Minister of Higher Education, Science and Innovation Blade Nzimande on Wednesday briefed the media on his department's response to the country's move to lockdown alert level 2.
Higher Education Minister Blade Nzimande has outlined the initiatives by various universities and institutions to fight COVID-19 here in South Africa.
The minister said that processes were under way at the South African Products Authority for the establishment of dedicated structures for the regulation and evaluation of African medicines, clinical trials and their registration for commercial and clinical application.
