By Lehlohonolo Lehana.
The Bisho High Court overturned the University of Fort Hare (UFH) decision to deregister Eastern Cape premier Oscar Mabuyane from its master’s programme.
Mabuyane was deregistered from a master of public administration qualification in March 2021 and took the matter to court to fight the university.
In handing down judgment on Thursday, 02 July 2026, Judge Lindiwe Rusi ruled that while the University of Fort Hare has the authority to deregister students who do not meet admission requirements, it failed to follow the principles of procedural fairness before removing Mabuyane from the Master of Administration programme.
The court declared the deregistration unlawful and constitutionally invalid, set aside the decision, and ordered the university to reconsider Mabuyane’s admission to the master’s programme, taking into account relevant evidence relating to his prior learning and experience.
The university was also ordered to pay the costs of the application.
In explaining the remedy, Judge Rusi said the matter had to be referred back to the university to ensure the admission process was conducted fairly.
“I come to the conclusion that this will be achieved by an order directing the University to re-start the process of reviewing the applicant’s admission to the MA degree having regard to procedural fairness,” the judge said.
The university had argued that Mabuyane did not meet the minimum academic requirements for admission because he held a three-year degree rather than an honours or four-year degree.
It also maintained there was no record that he had been admitted through its Recognition of Prior Learning (RPL) process.
However, the court found the university could not bypass the requirement to hear Mabuyane before making a decision that significantly affected his rights.
“On its own version, the respondent did not afford the applicant an opportunity to make representations before it made the decision to deregister him,” Rusi said.
The court also found that inviting Mabuyane to make representations only after the deregistration decision had already been taken did not satisfy the requirements of procedural fairness.
Mabuyane argued that his application had been assessed on the basis of his extensive public sector experience under the university’s Recognition of Prior Learning policy and that he had never claimed to possess an honours degree.
He further maintained that he progressed through the programme for several years before being deregistered.
Although the university argued that the review application had been brought too late, the court exercised its discretion to overlook the delay, finding that the matter had reasonable prospects of success.
The court also rejected Mabuyane’s argument that the university lacked the legal authority to deregister students, finding that such a power exists but must be exercised lawfully.
“The power to deregister students cannot be exercised willy nilly; it must be exercised in accordance with the principles of administrative justice,” Rusi said.
The judgment also stated that a forensic investigation into irregular postgraduate admissions did not make any adverse findings against Mabuyane and was not relied upon by the university’s Senate when it decided to deregister him.
University of Fort Hare spokesperson JP Roodt says the institution has noted the judgment handed down by the High Court. The University’s legal representatives are studying the judgment.
The institution will communicate further once this process has been concluded and the appropriate course of action has been determined,” Roodt said.