The University of South Africa (Unisa) has been placed under administration by the Minister of Higher Education, Science and Innovation, Blade Nzimande. South Africa’s largest university will remain under administration for a 24-month period starting from 27 October 2023.
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.
Both reports highlighted severe concerns regarding Unisa's administration, governance, quality and sustainability. They attributed these issues to management failures within key support systems and the council's actions as a root cause.
The Administrator's role will involve taking over the council's responsibilities and managing the university for the specified period. This includes initiating processes to restore proper governance, developing a turnaround plan to address identified problems, conducting a forensic audit to address financial irregularities, and ensuring a review of the university's statute and policies.
Additionally, the focus will shift towards enhancing Unisa's performance as a Open Distance e-Learning institution, supporting student success, and reconstituting the council with probity assessments for potential members.
Unisa Reaction
Unisa strongly disagrees with the minister's decision, citing a recent court order which had initially prevented the Minister from placing the institution under administration.
The university remains firm on the view that the Minister's announcement is premature and in contempt of the Court Order of 06 October 2023 by Justice Kooverjie, that interdicted him from placing the university under administration.
The university argues that the matter is still pending in court, as indicated by Justice Adams' earlier order on 24 August 2023, which required the Minister to refrain from making any decisions until the legal process was complete.
Unisa described the minister as ill-considered and insensitive as students are currently in the midst of student examinations. They added an anti-climax to the fact that the University has just graduated more than 50 thousand graduates this year.
The university is also of the strong view that the announcement of the Minister's decision at the time when our students are in the middle of the examinations is ill-timed and insensitive.
They emphasise that they are not opposing the Minister's authority but rather advocating for adherence to the country's legal framework.
The University is not fighting the Minister and the responsibilities that he has, however, the university is also of the view that all citizens need to be guided by the prescripts of the law of the country.
In response to the Minister's decision, the university has taken the matter to court on an urgent basis, seeking to challenge the announcement made on 27 October 2023. The university will provide further updates to its community as the legal process unfolds.
