Johannesburg - Pressure is mounting on disgraced Unisa principal and vice-chancellor (VC), Professor Puleng LenkaBula, to resign and face charges of corruption.
This comes following an independent investigation commissioned by Higher Education, Science, and Innovation Minister Blade Nzimande and facilitated by Professor Themba Mosia.
The under-fire LenkaBula is now accused of “staying in office so she can facilitate a R500 million deal for the construction of the university’s centre in Nelspruit, Mpumalanga”. According to sources, the deal is said to be in its final stages, with the VC and the remaining council members eyeing the big project.
In the past few weeks, the university has experienced an exodus of council members who refused to continue to be members of council following the devastating report.
Now LenkaBula faces flak from unions, non-governmental organisations (NGOs), students, and the ANC Youth League E’skia Mphahlele branch.
“The ANCYL has noted the progress made by Minister Blade Nzimande through the office of Professor Themba Mosia, who recently issued an independent assessor’s report that pronounced itself on the decadent state of affairs at Unisa. Notwithstanding that, we are concerned that the VC and principal, Professor Puleng LenkaBula, continues to individually and continuously preside over a paralysing state of the university to which the report in question correctly alluded.
“Above all, we have learned with dismay that the VC has unexpectedly suspended the registrar, Professor (Steward) Mothata, following his call for the university council to cease its appetite to convene unconstitutional meetings because it does not meet quorum after the massive resignations of the then-council members.
“The ANCYL has noted with disappointment the Unisa system being hacked, a shock that caused a lot of students to not be able to receive their data for examinations and allowances on time. However, the ICT department is not showing any interest in dealing with the matter, whereas students continue to suffer, with some being forced to give up writing examinations due to this incompetency and lack of sound contingency plans to ascertain the quality of examination proceedings,” the league said.
Unisa’s premium school, the School of Business Leadership (SBL), has also not been immune to LenkaBula.
In their letter to the council, the Unisa SBL advisory board accuses LenkaBula and the Unisa council and management committee of authorising the termination of contracts of departmental and committee heads.
Penned by the school’s advisory board chairperson, Mapule Mzimba, the memorandum alleges a range of issues that have spiralled out of control under LenkaBula.
Mzimba argued that there are no departmental heads or academic directors for some of the key departments to ensure value for money for the premium students, some of whom occupy leadership positions in both the public and private sectors.
“As of April 1, SBL has neither an academic director nor departmental heads, exam officers, a research director, nor programme managers.
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“This has grave implications for service delivery, the institution’s legal mandate, its contractual obligations, and Unisa’s reputation. These terminations were not communicated, and they were not discussed with SBL’s executive dean and the CEO, as the accounting officers responsible for strategic direction and operational functionality of the business school,” Mzimba said.
It is also alleged that these terminations or non-renewals were authorised by the VC, human resources as well as the management committee.
According to Mzimba, the axing of chairs of committees and academic heads has dire consequences for the school, its operations, teaching, and advancing its mandate.
These include the inability to sign off on doctoral proposal results, disruption of the academic calendar, and reputational damage.
While some have argued that under LenkaBula Unisa MBAs are becoming “obsolete”, the remaining members of council seem hell-bent on protecting her.
“The reputational damage to Unisa caused by the consequential dysfunction of SBL is enormous.
“Unisa’s MBA students pay a premium of R214 700, while MBL students pay R200 000. The disruption will affect students directly. Disruption in the MBA programme due to the absence of academic heads to process programme delivery activities related to teaching and learning is resulting in poor customer experience, with dire consequences on SBL market share,” Mzimba argues in a letter to the council.
Unisa said in a statement: “The university also welcomes any further investigations by relevant bodies as it believes it needs to own up to both its successes and failures.
“During the period that we are finalising our response, we humbly request your indulgence and patience, and we urge all staff to continue working hard and all students to stay focused on their studies to ensure that the academic project (teaching and learning, research and innovation, engaged scholarship and student support) remains firmly on track.”
The Star