Unisa embroiled in serious claims of wrongdoing

REPORTS submitted to Unisa's council have revealed allegations of violations of university rules and policies, and the laws of the country, which resulted in the loss of millions through over-expenditure at the institution.

The reports were submitted to the university council by Unisa Vice-Chancellor and Principal Professor Puleng LenkaBula, who indicated in February that she was submitting the reports ahead of the council's special expo and meetings.

In a letter addressed to the chairperson of the council, LenkaBula stated that the reports had not been submitted to the management committee, as was normal procedure, due to some of its members being implicated in them.

She said the submission of the reports had been delayed for a number of reasons, the first being due to the serious nature of the issues contained and that some reports had been delayed by the portfolios themselves despite her repeated requests and follow-ups.

Other reasons were that some of the managers implicated in the reports were members of the management committee and that she needed time to seek legal advice.

The five reports listed include a report on an incident of alleged sexual harassment, a report on the purchase of individual laptops, the procurement of data, salary adjustments, and a report on the cost of renovations to the official VC residence known as Cloghereen.

The report regarding the salary adjustments led to a protracted impasse between Unisa and workers affiliated to the National Education Health and Allied Workers Union (Nehawu) since March.

It said that the salary adjustments, which took place as of September 2021 and were paid to selected academics, professionals and administrative staff, were effected without the approval of the university council.

As a result the university allegedly incurred losses stemming from the unauthorised expenditure to the tune of R90 million.

LenkaBula informed the council that subsequent to this she made two interventions in November 2021, to inquire into and investigate the unauthorised salary adjustments.

The reports were submitted to the council with a view to instituting consequence management concerning the affected employees.