Durban — Minister of Higher Education, Science and Innovation Dr Blade Nzimande has made known his plans to place one of the world’s mega-universities under full administration.
The department’s spokesperson Ishmael Mnisi said Nzimande has written to the Unisa Council chairperson, James Maboa, on August 4, 2023, to relay his intention to appoint an administrator to Unisa.
“In terms of Section 49E of the Higher Education Act, the Council of Unisa will be dissolved. The minister has allowed the Unisa Council to make written representations to himself within seven days of the receipt of his letter,” said Mnisi.
The decision follows a report by an independent assessor and the ministerial task team revealing serious financial and other maladministration within the university, including bullying and tender manipulation.
This also comes on the back of the institution’s registrar, Steward Mothata, being fired for breaching the code of ethics and conduct earlier this year.
Mothata’s dismissal came after Unisa principal and vice-chancellor Professor Puleng LenkaBula, put him on precautionary suspension for, among others, failing to advise her, the council and its committees about governance matters and possible related risks.
There was a devastating 309-page report into various allegations, including poor leadership and governance, against Mothata.
Nzimande said he trusted that the appointment of an administrator was in the best interests of the university.
“The Ministerial Task Team conducted an Independent Review of Unisa’s ‘mission drift’ – which had massive implications for the financial sustainability and future of Unisa. The Task Team also made rigorous assessments on how the fourth industrial revolution and its associative disruptions and shifts will affect many aspects of the academic mission, academic programmes, markets and operating model of Unisa,” Mnisi said.
The university was founded in 1873 and was celebrating its 150th birthday in June this year.
Meanwhile, the crème de la crème of the legal profession on the African continent, under the auspices of the African Bar Association, has converged on the main campus of Unisa in Pretoria for the 2023 annual conference, which will end on August 10.
Minister of Justice and Correctional Services Ronald Lamola, Chief Justice Raymond Zondo and LenkaBula, are among some of the key speakers.
Other speakers include the Chief Justice of Sierra Leone, Justice Desmond B Edwards, President of the African Bar Association Hannibal Egbe Uwaifo as well as the chairperson of the South African Bar Association, advocate Bart Ford.
Ghana president Nana Akufo-Addo, a previous attorney-general of Ghana (2001-2003), is also in attendance.
The conference will be hosted by the African Bar Association in partnership with Unisa and will be held under the theme: “Building the legal profession in Africa under the African Continental Free Trade Agreement”.
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