HIGHER EDUCATION CHAOS
AMIDST calls by the Minister of Higher Education, Dr Blade Nzimande, for a complete overhaul of tertiary education system in the country, the National Institute for Higher Education (Nihe) in the Northern Cape faces a deepening leadership crisis that yesterday led to the current head of the institution, Professor Gabriel Summers, leaving the campus until concerns around his appointment are resolved.
All eyes are currently on tertiary education following the Green Paper on Post-school Education and Training, from the Department of Higher Education and Training (DHET), which sets a sweeping agenda for post-school education in the coming two decades, including new funding, access and redress policies for universities.
The department plans to increase enrolment and “reform” the tertiary education system, bringing it in line with South Africa’s developmental agenda.
However, in the Northern Cape, the crisis at Nihe following the controversial removal of former head, Dr Kopano Taole, has seemingly gone unnoticed by Nzimande’s office.
The institution is in the middle of a process which aims to transform it into the Province’s first university. Dr Taole’s removal at the end of last year resulted in a letter of demands and calls for urgent intervention from Nzimande.
These calls have gone unanswered, although registrations kicked off yesterday. Members of the staff refused to be led by Summers, who they claimed was appointed through a “flawed” process.
On Friday, members of the staff embarked on a small protest inside the main campus, demanding a meeting with “recognised” leadership to resolve several issues, including Dr Taole’s removal.
Police officers were called in to monitor the situation.
The student representatives last week threatened to disrupt the registration process unless Dr Taole returned to the institution yesterday.
However, Nihe’s public relations officer, Marietjie Grobbelaar, said that the institute ensured the registration of students went ahead as per normal.
In the memorandum sent to the minister, a group of 30 disgruntled staff members demanded that the deputy head of the institution, as well as the deputy head of finance should take two weeks’ forced leave.
They claimed that the institution has been “leaderless” for two weeks, that Taole’s removal was “unfair” and that Summers has not been able to produce a letter of appointment.
Summers’ surprise arrival on campus earlier this year enraged staff members.
Staff members also claimed that the board has refused to engage with them on the issue, resulting in Friday’s protest action.
The staff members also demanded that members of the finance department, accused of fraud and dishonesty, resign with immediate effect, as well as the suspended Supply Chain Management manager, who has not yet left the campus.
They also wanted the minister to appoint an administrator to assist Taole with the running of the institution until a new board was elected.
The current board has apparently been operating on an interim basis for more than a year.
The board terminated Taole’s contract at the end of November. At least three board members have resigned since.
At the time, Cosatu in the Province was among those who condemned the move.
“We condemn the decision by the Nihe’s interim board to terminate the contract of Dr Kopano Taole after he has done so much work to lay a foundation for a university in the Northyern Cape.
“We are aware that all those board members are not having interests of the youth of our Province at heart and are seeking to reverse the gains made in this project,” the union said in a statement.
The chairman of the Student Representative Council, Boitumelo Setshogela, said that the main concern for the students was that the institution was in the process of turning into a fully-fledged university.
She said that new leadership, appointed under questionable circumstances, would destabilise this process.
“We have called for the disbandment of the board because they do not have our best interests at heart. We want a new nomination process and we want people from the Northern Cape to be nominated,” Setshogela said.
The South African Students Congress (Sasco) in the Province said that the board has not proven underperformance that warranted Dr Taole’s removal.
“In fact, they accepted his annual report last year. If the institution does not have a proper head, students canot have proper access to education because the staff and management are leaderless,” Sasco said in a statement.
Questions to the minister’s office went unanswered last week and numerous attempts for comment were unsuccessful yesterday.
Grobbelaar said that the institution’s management would meet today and respond to questions afterwards.