Evidence wa ka Ngobeni
The head of Edupark, a private company launched by the University of the North, has slammed a R2-million inquiry commissioned by the university as being little more than a smear campaign against the former vice-chancellor Njabulo Ndebele.
Moss Leoka, the chair of Edupark, told the Mail & Guardian this week that the findings of the inquiry, conducted by attorney Phineas Mojapelo, were “inaccurate, incomplete and misleading”.
The M&G reported earlier this year on the commission’s findings, which accused Ndebele, an unpaid director of Edupark, of acting against the interests of the university in his quest to set up Edupark. The company hosts lectures and leases property to other South African universities.
Mojapelo found that Edupark would be “enriched to the tune of R15-million at the expense of the university”. The attorney’s findings were confirmed by the chair of the university’s council, Benny Boshielo, who was suspended on December 3 after an internal university inquiry charged him with mismanagement.
Boshielo has since publicly apologised to Ndebele, one of South Africa’s most eminent academics, for the slur.
Leoka, who claims that Mojapelo never attempted to contact either him or Ndebele during his investigation, said the findings of the commission were a result of a smear campaign against Ndebele and his former right-hand man, John Wiltshire, the university’s head of development and public affairs.
“I … advise all our supporters, stakeholders and institutional partners that the Edupark initiative has committed no wrongdoing itself,” Leoka said, adding that the institution had “never been implicated in any financial, legal and business misdemeanour of any kind”.
Wiltshire was the other founding director of Edupark. The Mojapelo commission found that Wiltshire, who is Edupark’s salaried CEO, used university funds to travel to New York on Edupark business.
Wiltshire earlier denied this allegation but confirmed his appointment. Leoka, who is also a member of the university council, says Mojapelo was “briefed incorrectly about Edupark when he went to investigate”.
“You see,” says Leoka, “when you are wrongfully briefed you will go and look for ‘spooks’ during your investigation.”
Leoka said all the allegations of wrongdoing “by any party in connection with the Edupark development and the alleged findings of the Mojapelo report in regard to Edupark are in the main inaccurate, incomplete and misleading”.
He continued: “Full formal audits have been carried out during the two years of Edupark’s existence and all funds are wholly and accurately accounted for. The board fully supports its officers and all their actions, in particular those of Professor Ndebele during his term of office and all those of John Wiltshire our CEO.”
Mojapelo could not be reached for comment, but his co-investigator, Jerry Sithole, said he upheld the findings of the commission no matter what Leoka believes.
Sithole said he stood by all the commission’s findings, adding that all the findings were made on the basis of the documentation and submissions provided to the commission.
“He [Mojapelo] even referred to minutes of university council and made findings on the basis of that, and then made recommendations,” he said.