Durban – The University of KwaZulu-Natal (UKZN) has been plunged into a fresh management crisis amid its suspension of five of its top executives on Monday – leaving staff unsettled and calls for the vice-chancellor to be suspended instead.
The five suspended officials are said to be heading to the Commission for Conciliation, Mediation and Arbitration (CCMA) to challenge their suspension. They are also preparing for a legal showdown to dispute the findings of an investigation which rejected their claims of racism against the university’s vice-chancellor, Dr Albert van Jaarsveld.
The findings of that investigation remain under wraps but are expected to form the basis of explosive claims by the five challenging its recommendations to suspend them.
And, despite support from UKZN staff union, UKSU, to follow through on the report’s recommendations to suspend the five, the vice-chancellor’s decision has angered several unions and raised the ire of the university’s Students Representative Council (SRC).
The National Education, Health and Allied Workers’ Union (Nehawu) and UKZN’s SRC have opposed the suspensions, calling for urgent action to resolve the crisis, saying the internal strife was affecting the registration of students in the new year and creating instability at the institution.
Nehawu regional spokesperson, Ayanda Zulu, called the suspended five "symbols of transformation" at the university and accused Van Jaarsveld of taking the institution "backward" with the suspensions.
“The decision to suspend these individuals was reckless and baseless. We also want to question the timing of the suspensions as it comes at a critical time of the academic year when the university is preparing to register students. It could have been handled better and we will be meeting as a union to decide what action we will take to address these unwarranted suspensions,” said Zulu.
SRC president, Nokolo Bhengu agreed and called the suspensions "procedurally unfair". “The five officials were prepared to work with the vice-chancellor after raising their complaints, so why were they suspended instead of the university trying to resolve matters with them?” questioned Bhengu.
In a further twist to the saga, a member of the university’s executive council lashed out at the suspensions, saying they did not receive unanimous support.
“We have members in council who are subordinates of senior officials and are expected to decide their fate. This cannot be the case. Many of us in council are unhappy with how the procedures of the five officials were carried out and yet the decision to suspend them went ahead,” said the council member, who was not authorised to speak to the media.
The five officials under suspension are deputy vice-chancellors Renuka Vithal and John Mubangizi, Deogratius Jaganyi (engineering, agriculture and science), Cheryl Potgieter (humanities), and UKZN director of corporate communications, Lesiba Seshoka.
While their letters of suspension have barred them from speaking to the media, a source close to all five officials told The Mercury on Monday that they were happy to receive their suspensions.
“They have been eagerly awaiting this so that they could move forward and challenge the report’s outcome on their complaints against the vice-chancellor. This now opens the way for them to expose their concerns around the investigation and the many discrepancies contained in the report. They are looking forward to their day in court,” said the source.
The university has been rocked by on-going controversy in recent weeks amid allegations by the five accusing Van Jaarsveld of, among other things, failing to transform the university, pushing an "all white leadership structure" and ignoring their objections to his plans to build a business school in uMhlanga.
President of convocation at UKZN, Fanle Sibisi has also come out strongly against the suspensions.
Van Jaarsveld refused to comment, saying all enquiries should be referred to the deputy chairperson of Council, Letticia Moja.