The hardest-hit institutions were North West University‚ which sustained R198m in damage after its Mafikeng campus was set alight; the University of Johannesburg‚ which saw fire and vandalism cause damage worth R144m and the University of KwaZulu-Natal‚ which estimated the damage done to its torched law library and vandalised buildings at more than R100m.

Pandor’s spokesperson‚ Lunga Ngqengelele‚ said the minister was deeply concerned about the financial implications of the damage done to universities. "We need to find money that could have been used for something else. It is a huge setback to have to rebuild infrastructure that was already provided‚" the spokesperson said.

DA shadow minister of higher education and training Belinda Bozzoli said universities got on average a billion rand each per year from the state‚ and a smaller university would typically get a subsidy of about R800m. That figure would have built at least two new residences for students at a poorer university‚ or fund thousands of student’s expenses‚ she said.

See the full story in today's Business Day.