The University of South Africa (Unisa) says it has approached the court on an urgent basis to challenge Higher Education, Science and Innovation Minister Blade Nzimande’s decision to place the institution under administration.
The Minister has appointed well-known academic, Professor Ihron Rensburg as the university’s administrator for the next two years. In a statement, Unisa says the Minister’s announcement was premature as the issue of reviewing the Independent Assessor’s report is still before court.
Unisa says the Minister’s announcement is in contempt of the court order handed down by Judge Harshila Kooverjie that interdicted him from placing the university under administration earlier this month.
The Minister’s decision to place the university under administration was informed by the report of an Independent Assessor released in March and the 2021 report by the ministerial task team which found corruption and maladministration at the institution.
The university has made an application to have the Independent Assessor’s report reviewed and set aside.
They believe that the announcement is ill-timed as students in the university are currently in the middle of examinations.
