By Lehlohonolo Lehana.
The Gauteng High Court, Pretoria, has slapped Minister of Higher Education and Training Dr Blade Nzimande with a contempt of court order.
Unisa took Nzimande to court to challenge his decision to appoint Prof Ihron Rensburg to take the reins for 24 months.
The high court declared that Nzimande’s decision to place Unisa under administration is in breach of a court and therefore in contempt of court and was ordered to withdraw the notice.
On Friday, the university issued a statement welcoming the order.
This was the fourth consecutive decision in favour of Unisa on whether the university could be placed under administration by the minister.
Nzimande’s decision to put Unisa under administration followed the recommendations of independent assessor, Professor Themba Mosia, and the report of a ministerial task team led by Vincent Maphai.
Mosia was appointed in September 2022 to conduct an investigation into the affairs of Unisa and compile a report with findings and recommendations.
The report was submitted to Nzimande in March this year before it was tabled in Parliament in May.
Mosia’s investigations uncovered financial and other maladministration which undermined Unisa’s effective functioning, and yet “performance bonuses were being paid to the executive management”.
Furthermore, the ministerial task team’s report found that Unisa’s council had failed the university “dismally”.
An independent report commissioned by the Department of Higher Education recommended the institution be placed under administration.
In a statement following the ruling, Unisa said it welcomed the decision of the court requesting the minister to retract his declaration to appoint an administrator.
“The University of South Africa (Unisa) welcomes the ruling of the Pretoria High Court today (Wednesday, 01 November 2023) which found that the decision of the Minister of Higher Education, Science and Innovation to appoint an Administrator for the university is in breach of previous court orders and unlawful.”
Unisa said it was not fighting the minister, but merely exercising its rights for the matters to be resolved in a decent manner.
“Unisa…reaffirms that its relationship with the ministry remains cordial, despite the contestations around the report of the Independent Assessor,” the university concluded.