Johannesburg - The Congress of the People (Cope) has called on the Minister of Higher Education, Science, and Technology, Dr Blade Nzimande, to act on the recommendations made by the Independent Assessor Report compiled by Professor Themba Mosia into allegations of maladministration and governance failure at Unisa.
In a statement on Wednesday, Cope national spokesperson Dennis Bloem said the university council and management should hang their heads in shame for having brought Unisa to its knees.
This comes hot on the heels of the 300-page independent assessor report into the affairs of Unisa, which recently found that the university's management failed to execute its mandate.
The report by Professor Themba Mosia focused on allegations of maladministration, tender irregularities, and governance failures at the institution, among a litany of issues.
The independent report, commissioned by Nzimande, also revealed that Unisa was on the brink of collapse under the leadership of its current Vice-Chancellor and principal, Puleng LenkaBula.
It also found that the university's council was failing to fulfil its fiduciary responsibilities, laying bare some of the failures of Unisa's council to hold management accountable.
‘’The minister, the council, and the management of the university must truly bow their heads in shame following the findings of the independent assessor appointed by the Minister. The findings made by the independent assessor are shocking and suggest that the university is being abused for self-interest by those tasked with its governance and management,’’ said Bloem.
Bloem added that, in many instances, the Council failed to carry out its fiduciary duties and that the Principal and Vice-Chancellor ‘’are economical with the truth.’’
‘’These are serious findings that point to a total collapse of the moral courage of those tasked with overseeing, governing, and managing the university. This is, however, not surprising in a country where the government has deliberately kept a blind eye to corruption, which has almost completely destroyed our country,’’ Bloem said.
Bloem accused the council of practising a form of cadre deployment at Unisa after the report found that the VC was not qualified for the role of Unisa principal.
‘’The Independent Assessor has made a telling finding that none of the candidates shortlisted for the positions of principal and Vice-Chancellor qualified. This suggests that this was a cadre deployment process. The results of this cadre deployment are demonstrated in the Independent Assessor’s report,’’ he said.
Cope said it wants the minister to act against those found to have collapsed the university and its governance processes, which have contributed to the near collapse of the institution.
‘’Where is the Minister responsible for higher education when our universities are becoming the centre stage for corruption and looting?’’
‘’We call on the Minister to immediately report these matters to the South African Police Services and the Special Investigation Unit for further investigation and action as he relieves the Council and management of their duties,’’ he said.
The Star