 Nzimande puts tech under administration TSHWANE University of Technology (TUT) has been placed under administration with immediate effect, the Department of Higher Education and Training said yesterday. An administrator has been appointed to run the institution in the place of Prof Johnny Molefe, the vice-chancellor elected by the university council despite questions over his qualifications. Prof Molefe received his doctorate in business administration from the Bahamas’ St Georges University International. After his confirmation last month, the council insisted he was the best person for the job, and that it had been unaware that his degree was not certified by the South African Qualifications Authority. In a statement yesterday Higher Education and Training Minister Blade Nzimande said Prof Molefe’s appointment "seriously compromised the academic integrity and reputation of the university in particular, and the higher education field in SA as a whole". He appointed Prof Themba Mosia as administrator for six months. Since the end of last year, the university has been under pressure from the department, after an independent assessment by Vincent Maphai into student and staff discontent pointed to serious governance problems at council level. Mr Maphai recommended that the university be put under administration unless the issues raised in his report were addressed by December last year. Yesterday Mr Nzimande said the council’s actions had shown that it had failed to seriously consider the recommendations of the assessor, and had ignored his "reasonable" request to delay the appointment of a vice- chancellor until he (Mr Nzimande) had chosen to appoint an administrator. Council spokesman Robert Matlhare yesterday described the turn of events as an "unfortunate situation". University spokeswoman Willa de Ruyter said the university administration would meet with Prof Mosia for the first time tomorrow. "I would like to reassure parents, students and other stakeholders that the normal activities of TUT and the upcoming year-end exams will not be affected by this appointment," she said. Mr Matlhare has accused the department of acting out of disappointment over its preferred candidate not being chosen. With Sapa [email protected] -- You are subscribed. This footer can help you. Please POST your comments to [email protected] or reply to this message. You can visit the group WEB SITE at http://groups.google.com/group/yclsa-eom-forum for different delivery options, pages, files and membership. To UNSUBSCRIBE, please email [email protected] . You don't have to put anything in the "Subject:" field. You don't have to put anything in the message part. All you have to do is to send an e-mail to this address (repeat): [email protected] . |
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