More legal action against tertiary mergers is in the pipeline as massive rebellion builds up in the Eastern Cape against Minister of Education Kader Asmal.
His announcement last week that the merged institution to be created from the University of Transkei (Unitra), Border Technikon and Eastern Cape Technikon will be known as the “Eastern Cape University of Technology” sparked deep anger at these institutions.
“We are giving the minister time to respond openly and honestly and publicly about how he arrived at his decisions because it was not a consultative process,” Karuna Gopal, the spokes-person for Unitra, told the Mail & Guardian. “If the minister does not respond and he gazettes the institution on November 14 as a university of technology then the new institution will use all lawful avenues to challenge him on the basis that he did not consult with the three institutions.”
Asmal last week announced the new names of merging institutions that will come into being in January next year and January 2005. He also announced that technikons would be known as “universities of technology”.
Unitra says Asmal has reneged on the Cabinet’s decision last year that the new merged institution should be a “comprehensive” institution — offering a mixture of technikon and university-type programmes — rather than a technikon, as the minister’s National Working Group proposed in 2001.
“By declaring that the new institution will be the Eastern Cape University of Technology, the minister has effectively pronounced closure of the university programme offering, thus returning back to his original position of closing this institution and replacing it with technikons,” says a document written by Unitra’s council on Friday that details its concerns about the minister’s decision.
The document was circulated to ministers in the provincial government, Umtata community members, staff, students and parents.
“The minister has to answer one simple question. Can he honestly say that he has consulted with us regarding the typology of the institution?” Gopal said.
There is also anger at Asmal’s “disregard” for the decision taken by the councils of the three merging institutions that the new institution’s name be the Walter Sisulu University for Science, Technology and Rural Development.
“The minister took a unilateral decision that disregards the unanimous decision taken by the joint councils of the three merging institutions,” says the Unitra document.
“The name Eastern Cape University of Technology is not contained in any one of the correspondences that the joint councils of these three institutions sent to the minister.”
In 2001 the government undertook to make its decisions about the new names for the merging institutions part of a consultative process with the councils of the institutions.
The M&G has seen correspondence between Unitra and the Sisulu family that indicates the family’s enthusiasm about their name being used.
“The family expressed its appreciation for this decision [by the three institutions to use Sisulu’s name] that was meant to honour such a towering figure in our history. In essence the minister has named the new institution without the input of the merging institutions,” says the Unitra council’s document.
On behalf of the Sisulu family Lindiwe Sisulu wrote to Unitra vice-chancellor Nicky Morgan in August. “It was a pleasure to receive your proposal to honour our late father … A family meeting was held to discuss your proposal and I am happy to inform you that our family has approved the use of our late father’s name … We also noted with satisfaction that the name of the new university has been agreed upon by the three [institutions]. This spirit of cooperation and good faith bodes well for the rise of the new university.”
Nasima Badsha, Deputy Director General for higher education in the Department of Education, says the minister’s decision was made after the three institutions failed to meet an extended deadline set by Asmal for submitting their desired name.
“[In September] the minister requested that they [the councils] reconsider the matter of the name and an extension [of two weeks] was given to them but there was no further submission forthcoming from these institutions and it was at that stage that the minister took the current decision,” said Badsha.
Gopal said that the chairpersons of the three councils wrote a letter to the minister indicating that they would not make another submission and that “Walter Sisulu University for Science, Technology and Rural Development” was their final decision.
“We believe that the minister has a duty to clarify himself in the same way as we believe we have a duty to ensure that the higher education sector is transformed with the apposite level of consultation,” said Gopal.
This development adds to the threat of litigation arising from mergers due to take effect in two months. Last week the M&G reported that Vista University intends to mount a legal challenge against details of its mergers.