The North Gauteng High Court has declared the decision to place the University of South Africa (Unisa) under administration by Higher Education Minister Blade Nzimande as unconstitutional.
Nzimande finally placed the institution under administration this week after previously being prevented by a court order. The minister explained that the decision comes after careful consideration of findings from the Independent Assessor report by Professor Themba Mosia and the Ministerial Task Team (MTT) report.
However, the judgement from the North Gauteng High Court means that Nzimande must be now compelled to retract his decision to place the institution under administration. The decision was handed down on Wednesday morning, following an urgent application by Unisa.
Unisa welcomed the decision from the Gauteng High Court which found that the decision of the Minister to appoint an Administrator for the university is in breach of previous court orders and unlawful. The court ruling states:
- The matter was treated as urgent.
- Additional applicants were allowed without cost implications.
- The Minister's decision, as published on October 27, 2023, was found to violate a prior court order from August 24, 2023, rendering it unlawful.
- The Minister is instructed to immediately retract the publication from October 27, 2023.
- The parties have been granted permission to approach the Deputy Judge President of the Gauteng High Court to schedule a date for the consideration of potential contempt issues.
Unisa believes that this court decision is sound and correct, given that the matter
The review of the Independent Assessor Report, which largely formed the basis of the Minister's decision, is still before the court and yet to be concluded.
The management of the university once again appeals to staff and students not to let these developments in court defocus them from the task of ensuring that the academic project forges ahead unabated.
The university added that they are not fighting the Minister but merely exercising its responsibility towards the institution, its stakeholders and the public at large by preventing an unnecessary disruption of the execution of its mission.
Administrator Prevented From Working
Minister Nzimande had appointed Professor Ihron Rensburg as administrator responsible for all university management for 24 months.
Higher Education spokesperson Ishmael Mnisi says there have been Efforts to prevent Professor Rensburg from accessing the university. The Higher Education Department is committed to supporting Professor Rensburg and his team in addressing the challenges at Unisa.
We’re getting reports that he was trying to access the university yesterday. There were some attempts to stop him from even entering the university. Knowing him and his capabilities, we know that Prof Rensburg would soldier on and will be able to deal with all these other challenges that are there.
Mnisi says Rensburg will be reinforced by a team that will work with him at Unisa and the department as well will always be there to support him.
However, the ruling from the High Court raises questions about the university's future and governance of higher education institutions in South Africa. Unisa, the largest university in the country, is now at the centre of a legal and administrative dispute that will have implications for the higher education sector.
