An administrator is set to take control of the troubled Durban University of Technology (DUT) on Wednesday, the national Department of Education said in a statement.
The current dean of the faculty of education of the University of Pretoria, Professor Jonathan Jansen, will be the administrator of the institution for the next six months.
Jansen will take over the authority of the DUT’s council and ensure that an ongoing forensic audit of the institution is completed.
DUT vice-chancellor and principal Professor Banganjalo Goba on Monday welcomed Jansen’s appointment.
”We welcome the [education] minister’s intervention. Her choice of Professor Jonathan Jansen is a carefully considered one,” said Goba.
Minister of Education Naledi Pandor appointed Professor Chadani Manganyi as an independent assessor of the institution on June 20.
In the statement released on Monday, Pandor said the assessor’s report ”confirms serious problems in the governance and management of the university”.
The minister has followed Manganyi’s recommendation that the DUT be placed in the hands of an administrator.
Earlier in the year, the education ministry’s merger unit submitted a report to Pandor that said the university was plagued by ”allegations of high levels of fraud and corruption”.
The unit’s report also noted deep divisions within the DUT’s council. The DUT was formed through the merger of ML Sultan Technikon and Technikon Natal in 2002. The council instituted a forensic audit in February this year.
Pandor appointed Manganyi as an independent assessor following the merger unit’s report. — Sapa