Andy Duffy
Truth and Reconciliation Commission chief investigator Dumisa Ntsebeza was fighting a rearguard action this week after a confidential letter he wrote to University of the Transkei (Unitra) principal Alfred Moleah swept across the troubled campus.
Ntsebeza is chair of Unitra’s governing council.
He says the lengthy letter – which begins “Dear Bro Alf” – does not undermine his integrity, and that he barely knows Moleah.
However, the missive has raised questions on and off the campus about Ntsebeza’s relationship with the embattled vice-chancellor. Ntsebeza and his council are Unitra’s highest internal governing body, and Moleah’s employer.
Moleah is also the target of two investigations – one by the council itself, the other by the Ministry of Education – that could force his dismissal.
In his letter, however, Ntsebeza assures Moleah of his backing, and even advises him on tactics to confound his opponents. Ntsebeza also discusses with Moleah his tactics in response to the council’s probe, and briefs him on talks with the students representative council – which is leading opposition to Moleah. The letter was dated June 19.
“I am going to make an outrageous proposal to you – outrageous because I agree with you 100% that your position thereon is correct,” Ntsebeza writes.
“It will be so unpredictable, so unexpected, so surprising that it will leave your adversaries confused and unable to come at you on anything in the future.”
Ntsebeza suggests that Moleah propose to council that the university pay a long- standing legal bill, left over following Moleah’s battle with former council members early last year. “It will enhance your prestige and it will strengthen the hand of those who are supportive of you,” Ntsebeza writes. “For me it would just be the thing to strengthen your hand and, of course, the hand of your supporters.”
Moleah was unavailable and the Ministry of Education was also unable to discuss the government’s investigation. One former council member, speaking on condition of anonymity, claims Ntsebeza had a record of supporting Moleah “right or wrong. It was always so blatant.”
Another, however, says the letter is a classic example of Ntsebeza’s diplomatic skills – that he is trying to cajole and flatter Moleah, rather than badger him.
Ntsebeza concludes the letter by asking whether Moleah should consider advertising for his successor “just so that anyone should realise that you are not clinging to the hot seat for dear life”.
Ntsebeza declines to discuss the letter’s contents and says he only knows Moleah because their wives met years ago in the United States. “There is a view that he does not consult and his rule has been characterised as autocratic,” he adds. “As chair of the council I cannot comment on those views.”
In the letter, however, he tells Moleah that he seems “to be occupying a moral higher ground … Bro Alf, keep up the good work. Hold your head high and remain the `cool cat’ you usually are in the face of trials and tribulations.”
Moleah’s tenure at Unitra, now into its fourth year, has been remarkable mainly for his explosive clashes. Minister of Education Sibusiso Bengu resorted to new legislative powers to send investigators on to the Umtata campus, amid fears about Moleah’s style of management.
The council’s probe, led by deputy chair Nonku Tshombe, is looking at long-standing tension between Moleah, his vice-principal Justice Noruwana and other senior managers.
Moleah fought the previous council from his first year in office, at one stage resigning because he felt his authority was undermined. The council suspended him last March for insubordination. But that decision fell away following legal action – for which the bill is still unpaid – and the council disbanded. Ntsebeza took over as chair of the new council.
Ntsebeza adds that even if the new council’s probe does recommend Moleah’s dismissal, some sort of compromise should be adopted. “To leave at this stage would amount to him leaving under pressure,” Ntsebeza adds. “If the report were to suggest that I do not know if I would be quick to say it is the solution for us to follow.”