Johannesburg - The explosive independent assessor report commissioned by Higher Education Minister Blade Nzimande into allegations of maladministration and malfeasance at Unisa has found that the university, under the leadership of Vice Chancellor Puleng LenkaBula, has been flouting supply chain management policies for over five years.
The independent assessor, Professor Themba Mosia, found there were irregularities and misconduct around the Unisa tendering processes that involved council members at the institution.
Some of the complaints that led to the establishment of the inquiry were that LenkaBula was a "prima donna" who demanded new furniture and "elitist" upgrades while students and members languished.
The report revealed that the VC flouted the tender process when she splurged more than R3 million on her residence’s upgrade, while only a R1m upgrade was approved.
It reveals that R74 000 was spent on air conditioning, R49 000 on the replacement of a borehole, a startling R28 500 on the procurement of curtains, R19 000 on a glass gas hob, and over R3 000 on the procurement of a mattress protector.
"I visited Cloghereen to view the renovations done at the house. I was shown all the work that had been done as part of the renovations: the new furniture that was bought for the lounge, the bedrooms, the study, etc, and the kitchen appliances that were installed. The university paid R285 228.60 for the procurement of curtains, so I was very interested to see the quality of these curtains. I was surprised to find sheer curtains, as can be seen in the picture," Mosia said in his 300-page report.
Mosia’s report has also placed on record that LenkaBula demanded an extra staff component of nine people for her office, including a chef, the head of social media, and several assistants. The new bloated team would approximately cost the university R14 million.
Another contentious issue is how the salaries of people in LenkaBula’s office were suddenly bumped up and given backpay backdated 15 years. This was, however, done with no motivation and no minutes of any discussion.
"It has also come to my attention that three personal assistants in the office of the VC received substantial backpay following backdated upgrades in post levels... The total backpay for the three personal assistants amounted to R2,9m. In my investigation of this matter, I could not find a proposal, motivation, agenda, or minutes of a meeting where this was discussed or approved. I have only seen the instruction to effect the backpay to the HR administrator. Surely there must have been a job evaluation exercise to determine that these positions should be on job level P7. I ask myself serious questions. What is the basis for backdating to 2007? What would the impact be on Unisa if other staff had the opportunity to ask for upgrading of their positions, with payments backdated for 15 years?’’ the assessor said.
Mosia recommended that the institution be put under administration so as to "take over the role and execute the management of the public higher education institution concerned; identify and initiate processes and initiatives that restore proper governance and management; and ensure that a new council for the higher education institution concerned is appointed and constituted in accordance with the institutional statute as soon as is practicable".
"Unisa wishes to appeal to the media and the public to be patient with the process currently under way. Unisa will not be responding to media inquiries yet," the institution said in a statement.
The Star