There will be no winners in the fractious battle playing out between higher education minister Blade Nzimande and the Unisa executive.
A damning report based on an investigation into the university earlier this year by independent assessor Prof Themba Mosia, which recommended that Unisa be placed under full administration and the council and management axed, has become the centre of a legal power-struggle playing out in court.
Two applications have been made — one by the chair of Unisa’s council James Maboa, who is seeking an order to interdict Nzimande from appointing an administrator and a separate application by vice-chancellor Prof Puleng LenkaBula for an order to review and set aside the report, which is particularly scathing of her leadership.
In August judge Leicester Adams ordered Nzimande not to act on the recommendations in the report until the two applications had been finalised.
But the minister ignored this order, announcing in October his intention to put the university under administration. This prompted a return to the Pretoria high court by Unisa’s council, with judge Harshila Kooverjie ruling that Nzimande’s notice of intention was “in breach” of Adams’s order.
Still undeterred, Nzimande on Friday appointed the former vice-chancellor of the University of Johannesburg, Prof Ihron Rensburg, to act as administrator for two years after dissolving Unisa’s council.
Again, Unisa went back to court, where acting judge Andre le Grange had harsh words for Nzimande. He reiterated that the minister had been ordered in August not to take any decision based on Mosia’s report until the two applications challenging it were finalised.
Clearly Nzimande is impatient to get the ball rolling at Unisa, and who can blame him? The university, which has more than 370,000 students and is the largest university in Africa, is crippled by infighting and mismanagement.
“The minister, however, claims this paragraph was a mere ‘undertaking’ and not an ‘operative order’ and was disregarded by the minister,” Le Grange said in his ruling on Wednesday. “Considering this defence, this court could not but wonder if we have reached a state in our democracy where a minister’s word and undertaking means nothing.”
He granted the parties leave to approach the deputy judge president of the North Gauteng high court, Aubrey Ledwaba, for a date and time for consideration of the issue of contempt.
After the first court ruling, Nzimande’s spokesperson, Ishmael Mnisi, said the minister had delayed his decision to place the university under administration “on mutual agreement that the period for written representations be extended to September 4”.
Later, Nzimande said he would abide by the ruling of the court, but pointed out he felt the court system was being used to curtail his executive authority as provided by the Higher Education Act.
Clearly Nzimande is impatient to get the ball rolling at Unisa, and who can blame him? The university, which has more than 370,000 students and is the largest university in Africa, is crippled by infighting and mismanagement.
The impact this saga is having on the day-to-day running of the institution must be immense.
Some may suspect that certain university executives are using “Stalingrad tactics” to delay their inevitable chop.
But that does not give the minister the right to disregard court orders, no matter how frustrated he may be.
Nzimande’s exasperation is palpable. The clock is ticking and he may find himself on the wrong end of a possible cabinet reshuffle next year. It is understandable he would want this messy issue sorted out before he leaves office, and is concerned that a lengthy legal battle may thwart this goal.
But if that is, indeed, the case, Nzimande needs to find a way to address the issue without breaching clear-cut court orders.
Equally, the courts have a duty to ensure the issue does not drag on needlessly, at taxpayers’ expense and to the detriment of functionality at the university. The sooner the leadership of this vital institution can be stabilised, the sooner it can begin to address the raft of problems flagged in Mosia’s report and start the massive task of rebuilding its battered reputation.
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