The University of Transkei (Unitra) is ”appalled” at Minister of Education Kader Asmal’s announcement this week that the name of the institution to be formed by its merger with Border Technikon and Eastern Cape Technikon will be the ”Eastern Cape University of Technology”.
This merger is one of several that will take effect in January 2005. Four mergers are due to go ahead within two months. Nine incorporations —one institution swallowing a division of another — will also take place.
”The process whereby the minister has reached his decision has flouted the democratic principles of consultation, shown disregard for the joint submission that was made to the minister by the three institutions’ councils and contradicts the proposals the minister himself made to the Cabinet last year,” Karuna Gopal, spokesperson for Unitra, told the Mail & Guardian.
The three institutions originally submitted the name ”Walter Sisulu University for Science, Technology and Rural Development” to the minister.
”Despite being informed that great consideration and consultation was sought before the decision was reached, including the approval of the Sisulu family, the minister has gone ahead with his pronouncement [on Tuesday],” said Gopal.
The minister’s announcement included the new names of merging institutions. These include the Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University, consisting of the University of Port Elizabeth and Port Elizabeth Technikon; Cape Peninsula University of Technology, consisting of Cape Technikon and Peninsula Technikon; and the University of Johannesburg, consisting of Rand Afrikaans University (RAU), Technikon Witwatersrand and Vista University’s East Rand and Soweto campuses.
Asmal said he would not announce the new name for the merger between the University of Natal and the University of Durban-Westville (UDW) until he has received the report of the assessor he appointed recently, Dr Bongani Khumalo, who is investigating ”matters relating to governance and management” at UDW.
Both RAU and Technikon Wit- watersrand responded positively to their new name.
”The choice of this name properly reflects the national status of the new university, which will be the largest contact university in South Africa, and symbolises the vibrancy, prosperity and leadership role that will be shared between the City of Johannesburg and the new merged university,” said Sonia CronjÃ