Ramaphosa breaks silence on former adviser’s Madlanga Commission notice

Former University of South Africa (Unisa) registrar Prof Steward Mothata has urged the Madlanga commission to investigate alleged maladministration, financial irregularities, and governance failures at Unisa. In a submission dated October 15, Mothata highlighted concerns about abuse of public funds, persecution of senior staff, and unresolved criminal complaints.

While acknowledging the commission's focus on law enforcement and the judiciary, Mothata argued that governance failures in higher education also warrant scrutiny, citing alleged abuse of public funds, the handling of governance disputes, and the removal of senior employees who raised concerns. The submission references the independent assessor's 2023 report, which questioned Prof Puleng LenkaBula's qualifications for the vice-chancellor position and alleged continued meetings by the university council after losing quorum.

Mothata also raised concerns about Unisa's legal costs, totaling R107.89 million as of August 2024, and allegations of senior employees being removed after raising governance and expenditure concerns.

Brief written by urgent.news from The Citizen's own syndicated text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.