Durban - The troubled Mangosuthu University of Technology is set to hold an emergency council meeting today which is set to elect a new chairperson following the sudden resignation of its chairperson from the position this week.
Morailane Morailane’s sudden resignation was confirmed in a communique published on the MUT website this week, and many believe that it is due to the problems that have engulfed the institution in recent months.
“At an emergency meeting held on 11 July 2022, the council accepted the resignation of the chairperson of Council, Mr Morailane Morailane, from his position. Morailane Morailane will remain a member of the Council until the end of his term on 31 October 2022,” read the letter published on the MUT Facebook page. The letter also indicated that there would be an emergency meeting to elect a new chairperson today.
MUT has had a series of problems which included reported tensions between the council and former vice-chancellor Dr Duma Malaza, which led to the latter’s suspension last year.
After the stand-off between the vice-chancellor and the council, which included a Labour Court challenge, an agreement was reached with Malaza agreeing to leave MUT earlier this year.
The problems at the institution prompted Higher Education and Training Minister Blade Nzimande to appoint an independent assessor, Professor Anthony Staak, to conduct a probe aimed at determining the source of the problems at MUT.
Among the findings by the assessor was that there was a lack of proper controls and decline in governance, with questions raised on some of the contracts that had been awarded to service providers by the institution.
In addition, the report raised questions over the council’s role, saying that in some instances there had been interference in operational matters by the council, which is supposed to play an oversight role.
Members of Parliament’s education portfolio committee were equally scathing on the council, calling for a clear plan of action that would ensure that rules of governance were followed.
Reacting to the news of Morailane’s resignation, the National Education Health and Allied Workers’ Union (Nehawu) welcomed the move, saying he had been at the heart of the problems at the institution.
Nehawu KwaZulu-Natal secretary Ayanda Zulu said the former chairperson had plunged the institution into turmoil, adding that he should have left a long time ago.
“We are saying ‘good riddance’. The resignation is long overdue and we will definitely not miss his leadership because of the problems that he has brought to the institution,” Zulu said yesterday. He added that the union would be monitoring today’s developments closely.
Several senior staff members from MUT, who spoke on condition of anonymity, also welcomed Morailane’s resignation, saying he had brought trouble at the institution during his term of office. Attempts to get comment from the former vice-chancellor were unsuccessful as his phone was on voicemail.
MUT continues to be haunted by problems as witnessed by the recent students’ protests that led to the burning down of one of the university’s buildings, bringing an abrupt end to the first semester.