DUMISANE LUBISI, Pietersburg | Wednesday
THE President of the Student Representative Council (SRC) at the University of the North, who has been at the institution since 1992 for a four-year B Juris law degree, is among 10 SRC members suing the institution for R1m for defamation for revealing that they owed more than R400_000 in outstanding fees.
Their lawyers are filing papers with the Pretoria High Court after the university failed to publicly apologise to the students and pay them R100_000 each.
The student body owes a collective R150m, making the university the worst financially managed institution in the country.
The suit follows the distribution of unsigned letter on campus indicating that the ten students owed the institution about R400_000. The letter said SRC president Bafana Mbetse, 33, owed R51_470 alone for his studies and residential fees.
The other students are SRC deputy president Jack Letsoalo, who owes R44_792, general secretary Mandla Mhlanga (R24_634), deputy secretary Bongani Bongo (R26_326), SM Samotoma (R40 311), IT Tiki (R60_421), MG Mokadi (R41_811), NT Mthenjane (R33_322), JN Mabande (R37_816) and CM Malebana (R37_237).
The university has 106 student leaders, including the 10 SRC members and members of the Student Representative Assembly (SRA), who owe R1,5m in fees.
The SRA comprises class representatives who liaise between students and the SRC. The SRC then liaises with management.
To get its finances back in shape, the university appointed Patrick Fitzgerald, a former Wits University director, as administrator in January. He got a court interdict to keep 75 SRA members, as well as the 10 SRC members, off campus until they acknowledged their debts and arranged to settle them.
They also lost their leadership positions and the student body will elect new leaders. – African Eye News Service