Protesting students have accused Njabulo Ndebele of being slow to implement changes on the campus, writes Tangeni Amupadhi
THE same forces who proclaimed University of the North Vice-Chancellor Njabulo Ndebele champion of transformation in tertiary education, have turned against him.
Ndebele – who lost out in the three-way competition for the top job at Wits University – has been accused by academic colleagues, students and workers of impeding transformation on the Turfloop campus.
The long-threatening row exploded this week with protest marches and uproar on campus. Chanting students tried to stop course registration and disrupted a meeting of university top management, insisting that they be allowed to hand a petition to Ndebele in person.
In the petition, they demanded an overhaul of university management and an agreement by the university to register even those students who owe the university money.
Student protestors accused the university of not doing enough to repeal its apartheid-era Act. They complained that the university transformation committee has failed to meet monthly as they are supposed to, and they said that the university senate is dominated by “conservative Afrikaners”.
The Allied Structures, which represents a range of academics, students and staff, has also accused Ndebele and his cabinet, which is known as the executive management committee, of making “retrogressive changes” and of stagnating transformation.
The Mail & Guardian could not reach Ndebele for comment. University spokesman John Wiltshire, while acknowledging there “are huge management problems”, dismissed most of the allegations as unsubstantiated and malicious.
“Rhetoric is so easy,” he said. “What do they mean by transformation? What more do they want us to do? We are the most democratic tertiary institution in the country. We began transforming a long time ago.”
Allied Structures this week demanded the disbandment of the university management committee, saying that Ndebele has filled it with his preferred candidates, instead of his deputies and the university registrar.
Wiltshire conceded that many of the members of the management committee had been hand- picked by Ndebele. But they were acting on an interim basis, he said, and were not permanent members.
Members of Allied Structures also called for a change in the composition of the university senate. “The senate is dominated by conservative Afrikaners who are opposed to democratic processes. These people surround Ndebele and he does not see beyond them,” said student representative council president Gilbert Kganyago.
Kganyago criticised the management council and the senate members for turning away students who did not have money to continue their studies, saying they were ignoring national policy that no student should be refused education because of an inability to pay.
As of the end of October, university officials said, the student debt stood at nearly R70-million. Student council representatives said the university has ordered all students to pay at least 50% of the money they owe before they will be allowed to register.
Jack Klaas, assistant registrar for financial aid, said that while “no academically performing student will be excluded”, the debt was a drain which the institution can ill afford.
About 90% of those in debt were doing poorly academically, and some owed as much as R31 000 each.
By this week about 6 000 needy students, nearly half of the campus population, had submitted their names to the student council. They will be interviewed by a panel created to determine individual needs.
Wiltshire said most of the problems on campus are due to a lack of funds. The university, he said, needs to spend at least R657-million to upgrade its facilities. Built for a maximum of 4 500 students, the university now accommodates 16 000.
Wiltshire questioned the motives of those going public with their criticism, because all interests have representation in the university.
But students like Kganyago maintain that most decisions are taken without consulting stakeholders.
For example, top management decided to scrap the staff development programme, according to the representive of the administrative and technical staff, Jay-Jay Mavanyisi. Workers involved were not consulted, and there is no replacement for the programme.
Students have also accused management of disregarding democratic decisions. Kganyago said the council, on the recommendations of senate, rejected three out of eight academics elected to serve as deans of faculties.
According to Kganyago, the senate said the three rejected candidates were not qualified for the positions, but two had the same academic qualifications as the candidates who replaced them. Deans are elected biennially by students and academics in the faculties.