Despite the controversy that mired selection process of the new vice-chancellor for Cape Peninsula University of Technology (CPUT), Mbulelo Bikwani – chairperson of the institution's council – holds his head up high they chose the right man for the job.
CPUT's council appointed Prins Nevhutalu to the position last month, while a candidate whose shortlisting physicist and political analyst Sipho Seepe – himself shortlisted in a two-horse race for the job at the time – maintained the process was a "sham". Seepe withdrew in protest a week before the new vice-chancellor was announced, leaving Nevhutalu as the only candidate.
Seepe argued in a withdrawal letter to Bikwani, a copy of which he also sent to Higher Education Minister Blade Nzimande and University of KwaZulu-Natal vice-chancellor Malegapuru Makgoba, that the shortlisting of Nevhutalu, whose CV was "vacuous and bereft of any semblance or evidence of scholarship", was proof that the selection process was a "sham" and "participating in it can only give it a cover of legitimacy".
Speaking for the first time about Seepe's allegations, Bikwani told the Mail & Guardian Seepe's remarks about the selection process and his withdrawal was an "episode [that] was unfortunate and uncalled for".
"The utterances and the reasons for the utterances were actually what should have kept Prof Seepe to continue with the process. If his claim was that Dr Nevhutalu was and is unworthy to be a vice-chancellor for the reasons he articulated, then he should have stayed the course because council, at that point, was still going to make a decision," Bikwani said.
"I'm still puzzled at his decision to withdraw for the reasons he cited."
'Professional and transparent'
Bikwani said CPUT's senate and the institutional forum, both influential structures in the university, "confirmed that the selection process was both professional and transparent".
"This was also the view of the unions who played a critical oversight role of observing the process. Furthermore, both structures supported the recommendation that Dr Nevhutalu should be appointed the vice-chancellor," said Bikwani.
Bikwani told the M&G Seepe did not withdraw at his own volition. "The letter of withdrawal from Prof Seepe was a response to my letter to him requesting him to confirm whether he did indeed make the statements attributed to him in an M&G article. In response he sent me the letter of withdrawal."
But Seepe rejected this, saying "even the [initial] coverage of the issue in the M&G intimated that I'd withdraw".
Seepe told the M&G this week he has no regrets even to this day about pulling out. Instead, he said, he is happy the issues he raised "were ventilated" in public and opened up a debate about the calibre of people selected to lead the country's universities.
"There was no need for me to give legitimacy to the process. The collapse of systems happens with us colluding in silence. The collapse of the school system happened in the same way," said Seepe.
Nevhutalu did not respond to questions the M&G emailed him this week. When reached over phone, he said he was ill and referred questions to CPUT.
Taking the reins
He takes over the reins from retiring vice-chancellor Vuyisa Mazwi-Tanga at the beginning of next year. But he will join CPUT on October 1 as vice-chancellor designate. Nevhutalu is currently a deputy vice-chancellor at the University of Zululand.
Bikwani said Nevhutalu's "experience in higher education in general, operating at senior executive level, his success in supporting emerging research and researchers" are the main traits that convinced council to appoint him
Behind Nevhutalu, Bikwani said, "is strong experience and a record of delivery in leading research strategy and development processes" at the Tshwane University of Technology and the National Research Foundation, where he respectively held positions of deputy vice-chancellor for research and executive director for research development and support and later executive director for institutional capacity development.
"The CPUT council and community are more than convinced that Dr Nevhutalu will make a significant contribution to CPUT's journey towards greatness," said Bikwani.