Varsity round-up

by | Apr 21, 2012 | Featured 1, News

Rhodes student murdered

THE body of a Rhodes student was found in Port Elizabeth on April 13. She had been stabbed in her neck and chest.

News24 reported that Lelona Thembakazi Fufu, 23, was murdered while hitchhiking to her graduation ceremony last week.

Police spokesperson André Beetge said that, since Fufu’s clothes were still on but her valuables were gone, police believed she had been robbed and then murdered.

Fufu would have been awarded her BSc Honours degree on Thursday evening.

 

Five universities under fire

INVESTIGATIONS  at five universities have revealed problems in the governance of certain institutions, Higher Education Minister Blade Nzimande has announced.

According to Daily News, Nzimande announced on April 16 that Tshwane University of Technology (TUT), the University of Zululand, Walter Sisulu University, Vaal University of Technology (VUT) and the Central University of Technology were under scrutiny for maladministration.

Assessors at TUT reported “continued governance problems” and a lack of progress by the university council in complying with recommendations made by a commission of inquiry and an audit by KPMG.

At the University of Zululand, the assessor reported an “unhealthy”, bordering on “dysfunctional”, relationship between the vice-chancellor and the council.

A lack of student governance was also cited as an issue at the university, where there has been no SRC since 2009.

Walter Sisulu University is reportedly in “dire financial straits”, and academic results are substandard.

Nzimande said he had not yet been given the reports on Vaal University of Technology and Central University of Technology.

 

 

 

Payment saga at UKZN continues

THE University of KwaZulu-Natal has denied accusations that it paid random amounts of money into contract workers’ accounts, following a three-month delay in payments.

Some lecturers and tutors have not been paid since January, East Coast Radio reported, and have stopped lectures as a result.

After students threatened to protest in support of the staff, some payments were made on April 13 and 14. However, staff claim they were paid incorrect amounts. One person claimed to have been paid just R16.

The university has cited administrative glitches for the problems, and said that backlogs would be sorted out soon.