FEELING HONOURED:
R800m in unpaid fees cause backlog despite successes
Property developer Sisa Ngebulana was happy to be celebrated at his childhood home yesterday when Walter Sisulu University bestowed an honorary doctoral degree in commerce on him in Mthatha in recognition of his outstanding achievements.
WALTER Sisulu University yesterday started its series of graduation ceremonies which, over the next two weeks, will see it confer junior, honours, masters and doctoral degrees on over 5 000 students.
The process started in Mthatha where the institution conferred more than 2 300 junior degrees, 35 honours, 22 masters degrees and four doctoral degrees and will move to East London next week.
At yesterday’s ceremony the university’s vice-chancellor Rob Midgely used his address to highlight some of the institution’s challenges.
He said their biggest challenge was their infrastructure maintenance backlog, which sits at over R850million. On the other hand, the university has a burden of unpaid fees of over R800-million.
“There is a direct correlation between unpaid fees and our ability to deliver satisfactory services across the university,” he explained.
Midgely described WSU as offering a vital window through which many rural students climbed to an academic career. He listed some of the university’s alumni, including advocate Tembeka Ngcukaitobi.
“Advocate Ngcukaitobi provides a vivid example. One of the sharpest young legal minds in the country, Ngcukaitobi is a prominent and influential alumnus of this august institution.
“This is what I mean when I say WSU is a gateway institution that opens the doors of learning to young people who would otherwise not have an opportunity.”
A highlight for the university this year is that it will once again, after a five-year break, begin conferring South African Institute of Chartered Accountants (Saica) accredited accounting degrees.
The university lost its accreditation in 2012 but over the past five years has been through a vigorous process of sorting out its accountancy studies programme with the support of the University of Cape Town (UCT), Saica and the Department of Higher Education (DHET).
The university’s accounting faculty, which was re-accredited late last year, boasts 17 chartered accountants who are providing academic leadership to about 400 students.
“I am proud to confirm that the South African Institute of Chartered Accountants has accredited our accounting programme,” said Midgely.