Placing Unisa under administration long overdue: axed registrar

Higher education minister Blade Nzimande’s intention to place Unisa under administration has been widely welcomed by academics and political parties. 

Nzimande wrote to Unisa’s council chair, James Maboa, on Friday informing him that he was satisfied that a report by independent assessor Prof Themba Mosia “reveals financial and other maladministration of a serious nature and serious undermining of the effective functioning of Unisa”.

The letter, which has been seen by TimesLIVE, says Mosia's findings, among others, include: 

— There were serious institutional governance problems that started a while back and are continuing; 

— Internal control weaknesses were identified in supply chain management and ICT, and finance processes and noncompliance was found to be pervasive and an area of prime concern in Unisa; 

— The management committee (mancom) is not working as a coherent team and lacks the maturity required to effectively manage a complex university;

— The management committee knowingly took irregular financial decisions that had and have far-reaching consequences for the university, including a decision to implement selective salary adjustments to academic staff and some of the support staff; and 

— A scheme for the procurement of laptops for staff amounting to more than R87m was fraught by deviations from the SCM policy. 

Nzimande informed Maboa that the independent assessor’s report also reveals that the appointment of an administrator is in the best interests of Unisa and of higher education in an open and democratic society.

He told Maboa that he considered his response to the report but “unfortunately my observation is that it does not sufficiently demonstrate that you are disposed and committed to successfully addressing the serious issues raised in the report”. 

He said the council will, in terms of the Higher Education Act, “be dissolved upon the appointment of an administrator”. 

He gave Maboa seven days to make written representations to him concerning the action he contemplates taking. 

“I will consider your written representations and take a final decision thereafter,” stated Nzimande. 

Meanwhile, Unisa’s former registrar, Prof Mothata Steward, who was fired by the vice-chancellor, Prof Puleng LenkaBula, on June 27 said Nzimande’s intention to place the institution under administration was welcomed and “long overdue”.

Mothata brought an application on June 20 in the North Gauteng High Court in Pretoria, to declare that the council is no longer “properly constituted” after the resignation of several members.

He sought several other orders which included directing Nzimande to appoint an administrator for Unisa within 15 days of the order being granted.

Mothata said: “Unisa council brought this on themselves by not holding the vice-chancellor accountable despite my requests to address this matter. They [the council] need to pay back the allowances paid to them for meetings. They failed me and many colleagues at Unisa.” 

Jonathan Jansen, distinguished professor of education at Stellenbosch University, said “it is a sad but necessary and long overdue decision that allows Unisa to reboot after years of malfunction, corruption and incompetence. 

“This is amply documented in both the Vincent Maphai (ministerial task team report) and Mosia report which are in the public domain.

“However, whether an administrator that replaces council is sufficient to turn around Africa’s largest university depends on a whole lot of other factors, including the quality, experience, skills and determination of the administrator to be appointed.”

Prof Elbie Henning from the University of Johannesburg said while she did not know enough about university management and administration, she was sure there were good reasons for Nzimande’s decision.

“This is a huge institution. What will the effect be on the students?” 

DA shadow minister of higher education, Chantel King, said they called for the institution to be placed under administration after allegations surfaced that Unisa failed to mark almost a third of submitted assignments in the first semester. 

“We hope that this decision will be a valuable means for the once proud university to correct course and once again offer its thousands of students a top-quality higher education.” 

The FF Plus spokesperson for higher education, Wynand Boshoff, said for many people “Unisa is the best way to improve their qualification level while working”. 

“With more than 400,000 students, the role fulfilled by this distance university is crucial.”   

Shatadi Phoshoko, secretary-general of the national student representative council at Unisa, said executive members will be meeting tomorrow to study the minister’s statement and they will then take a position on the matter. 

Maboa told TimesLIVE Premium that he could not say as the council was meeting on Thursday to discuss Nzimande’s intention to place the university under administration. 

TimesLIVE