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A funding crisis is threatening to disrupt South African universities that had been hit before by student unrest over fee increases, authorities warned on Monday.
Amid growing discontent among students, the government said it is still deliberating over next year's university fees.
Minister of Higher Education and Training Blade Nzimande said a decision on university fee increases for 2017 will be made before the end of the month.
But student leaders have threatened to shut down universities across the country should the government implement a fee increase.
Student leaders were meeting on Monday to discuss possible action once fee increases were imposed.
A number of universities have said zero fee increase would lead to retrenchments among university faculties.
"Within the next week or two, we should have arrived at a common understanding as to what is going to happen in 2017... There must be certainty for students, there must be certainty for universities," Nzimande said.
The Council on Higher Education submitted recommendations for 2017 fee adjustments to Nzimande last week.
The minister had been expected to make an announcement on Friday, but the briefing was cancelled.
For lack of funding, universities would start retrenching or close down certain programs, Nzimande said.
Also on Monday, the opposition Democratic Alliance Student Organization (DASO) said it is strongly opposed to campus shut-downs by student organizations.
"Such a move will only make the situation worse for all students, especially those from poor backgrounds, by disrupting valuable academic teaching and support," the DASO said in a statement.
The organization blamed the government led by the ruling African National Congress (ANC) for the funding crisis.
"The continued funding crisis we find ourselves in today is directly a result of the ANC government's chronic underfunding of students and universities over the last decade," said Yusuf Cassim, Chairperson of the Democratic Alliance Youth.
He said the DASO believes that no qualifying student should be prevented from pursuing an education just because they cannot afford to do so.
"It is time that we hold our government accountable for their failure to do so, and find real and workable solutions to address the problem. It is not the time to falsely misdirect blame at our universities. This will only further harm our precious higher education institutions and hurt poor students in the long-term," Cassim said.
Last year, South African university students staged "FeesMustFall" protests across the country, shutting down a number of universities.
(APD)
