Johannesburg – The University of South Africa (Unisa) Council and its vice-chancellor Professor Puleng LenkaBula have written to the higher education minister in two separate letters requesting six months to develop a turnaround strategy in response to some of the recommendations made in a damning independent assessment report.
The council and LenkaBula also asked the minister to consider setting aside some of those findings that related to allegations made against individual managers in the report, as they believed the Independent assessor had “overreached” beyond the terms of reference of the investigation.
The independent assessment, instituted by Higher Education, Science and Innovation Minister Blade Nzimande revealed a cauldron of “instability characterised by a culture of fear, intimidation and bullying, instances of maladministration and financial irregularities”.
The troubling inefficiencies were laid bare in a 309-page report compiled by Professor Themba Mosia, who recommended the institution be placed under administration.
In a 45-page letter by the Unisa council and a separate 22-page letter by LenkaBula, they acknowledged some of the recommendations of the independent assessor but insisted that these were matters that can be remedied.
They asked the minister to not only allow them six months to develop a plan to turn the situation around, but also for the minister to appoint a forensic firm to investigate the “corrupt networks” cited in the report.
The report found human resource failures, a fragile and troubled ICT environment, poor student services, academic malpractices, leakages of confidential records, and questionable management and council decisions, among others.
The council further asked Nzimande that considering they met on June 7, 2023 and resolved to approve the appointment of four members with a broad spectrum of competencies, if he could assist the council by appointing the three ministerial appointees.
While the council agreed to some of the recommendations, it did note that the independent assessor’s report found very few good things about Unisa, stating that the bulk of the report was negative and “created the impression that the university was in a state of chaos and about to collapse”.
“The council would like to insist that the governance systems and structures of Unisa are in place and functional. The council, senate, institutional forum, the student representative council and convocation among others, are in place and compliant.
“The only structure that the university needs to work on is the student services council,” the letter read.
It further confirmed that in terms of the provisional unaudited data, the university was financially healthy.
LenkaBula faces damning allegations in the report that she built an empire for herself with a R3 million splurge of Unisa’s money in upgrading the official residence and her demand of a Mercedes-Benz GLE 400d with a R1.9m price tag, as well as an extra staff complement – including a chef and a social media manager in her office – at a cost to the university of R14m.
However, in her letter to the minister, LenkaBula claimed Mosia was “reckless and cavalier” in the way in which he conducted his assessment and that he appeared to have “no proper appreciation of the strategic position of Unisa in the higher education sector, and the entire political economy of South Africa and Africa as a whole”.
“According to the assessor, the last two years of my leadership has not improved the fortunes of Unisa. I dispute this out of hand.
“There is no doubt that Unisa has challenges and needs to improve on matters of governance, administration, and performance. However, the assessor has exaggerated the challenges,” she claimed.
In its lengthy letter, the council said they noted some “methodological weaknesses” in the report of the independent assessor (IA), including:
∎ The “odd and contradictory” finding that the university was financially healthy and sustainable – a sign of sound administration notwithstanding existing weaknesses, they said – and yet it goes on to make far-reaching findings and recommendations
∎ The IA allegedly did not afford the university an opportunity to comment on his draft report. This, the council said, has led to many apparent inaccuracies which could have been resolved by way of the IA providing a draft report to Unisa, so that such inaccuracies are remedied.
∎ The IA committed upfront that his method of assessment would be informed by facts and evidence only, however, the report uses social media and other unverified sources.
“It is our view that while the IA has made certain observations about management failures, these matters do not warrant a full administration and can be addressed through the development of a comprehensive corrective action plan coupled with strategies aimed at building unity and cohesion within the MANCOM,” the letter stated.
LenkaBula added that she found Mosia’s report “unbalanced” and that he seemed to have placed a disproportionate blame and emphasis on the last two years of her tenure as vice-chancellor.
“This is grossly unfair, inaccurate, and unscientific,” she said.
She also added that her evidence as accounting officer was treated with contempt and deliberately excluded from the report.
“For example, the sworn statement I submitted to demonstrate the culture of violence and intimidation is treated with disdain and suspicion. Such treatment of important evidence pointing to threats of rape of women at Unisa and my personal safety is extremely regrettable in the context where violence, sexual violence, and gender-based violence are endemic in our society. In this regard, I conclude that the assessor is sexist and biased against women in his assessment.
“The report attempts to erase my contribution in turning around the university in the past two years. This is what I call the silencing of my voice and the erasure of my existence and leadership. It is sexist and misogynistic to the core,” LenkaBula said.
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