Report reveals ‘fear, corruption and institutional capture’ at Unisa

“An all-pervasive culture of corruption, impunity, conflict, fear and intimidation.”

This is how a report to the Minister of Higher Education described management at the University of South Africa (Unisa).

“There also seems to have been a deliberate and systematic plan, over a sustained period, to establish a corrupt network which has resulted in institutional capture,” the report, which has been leaked to third parties, said.

According to the report, Unisa faces synchronised failures of multiple management systems.

It also highlighted alleged deficiencies at the leadership level at South Africa’s largest long-distance learning university as well as staff shortages.

The report found Unisa’s council had failed to create an enabling and ethical culture befitting the institution.

The report follows an announcement in 2020 by higher education minister Blade Nzimande to appoint an independent ministerial task team to analyse Unisa’s organisational structure.

The task team in the report said “in short, gross incompetence is pervasive in certain departments”.

It addressed a culture of non-compliance at the institution, accompanied by a lack of consequence management.

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“The labour unions are alleged to be leveraging disproportionate influence, including in the appointment of academic staff.”

The report said it was most concerned, as the university was poorly run and lacked governance, due to internal challenges, that Unisa needed to address.

“This constitutes the root cause of problems at Unisa.”

The report said there were “certain activities” which required in-depth investigation.

“These would need to be undertaken by the relevant authorities with the necessary mandate.”

The report said Unisa suffered chronic management failures in many key support systems.

“The performances of departments such as supply chain management, HR management, assurance and compliance functions, and finance are seriously compromised and fail the university, putting the entire institution in jeopardy.”

It said Unisa was being perceived by some to be lacking a strategic focus.

It was drifting beyond its distance education mandate, as it was admitting full-time students often fresh from school while failing to priorities focus areas such as ICT infrastructure.

It found that the Unisa council was inadequate to the task of understanding the current higher education landscape, opportunities and challenges.

“The council has singularly failed to implement the most crucial of its strategies. It approved the adoption of open distance e-learning (ODeL) and did so in the knowledge it necessitated a sophisticated digital infrastructure.

“Infrastructural projects were conceived, and even approved, but not implemented. This can only be construed as intentional dereliction of duty.”

The report said the Unisa council failed to deliver on its basic responsibilities, such as the infrastructure necessary for education delivery.

“This situation has pertained over several years and is unlikely to change without some drastic intervention.”

The task team found that the university was stretched to the limit, with insufficient staff numbers in proportion to the rising numbers of students.

This as Unisa enrolls nearly one-third of all current South African students in the university system and has approximately 375 8511 students in 2021.

“The academic staff are not just inadequately resourced, they are starved of resources.”

The report said urgent intervention was needed at Unisa.

The task team advised the minister to issue a directive on account of “a reasonable belief that the Unisa council was involved in financial impropriety and was unable to perform its functions effectively”.

It advised that an administrator be appointed for an initial period of not exceeding 24 months.

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“The minister should appoint a multi-disciplinary team of management experts in enrolment management, facilities management, finance, human resources, information technology to assist the administrator.”

Higher education spokesperson Ishmael Mnisi said Nzimande had received the report and was studying its recommendations.

“Any decisions on action to be taken will be communicated once this process is complete.”

Unisa spokesperson Edgar Rathelele said the university was aware of the task team and has collaborated with its engagement processes.

“We expect that when the minister has finished studying the report, he will formally engage with the council and the university through formal communication channels. Council will then consider the report and respond directly to the minister through the appropriate channels.

“The council calls on all stakeholders, especially staff and students, to allow the minister the necessary space to process the report and thereafter engage with the university and other relevant stakeholders formally.”

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