The turmoil among the upper echelons of the University of Venda (UNIVEN) continues, with further court action in the past week.
In the latest development, a non-profit civil society organisation has entered the fray and asked the court to interdict the chairperson of the university’s Council, as well as three other Council members. They are to be barred from participating in any Council activities pending an investigation into allegations against the university’s Vice-Chancellor (VC) and Principal, Prof Bernard Nthambeleni, and the Chief Operating Officer (COO), Mr Botwe Kraziya.
The application for an interdict was filed on Tuesday (9 June) by Limpopo Legal Solutions (LLS) in the Thohoyandou High Court. A separate application by Prof Nthambeleni, seeking to interdict any final decision to suspend him, is also before the court. Both matters are set down for hearing on 17 June.
What is the dispute about?
The crisis began when the chairperson of UNIVEN’s Council, Mr Rudzani Mushweu, convened a special Council meeting on 4 May on same-day notice. On the agenda was an anonymous letter containing allegations against Prof Nthambeleni and the COO. These included alleged systemic governance failures, corruption and nepotism.
No prior notice was given that Council would consider the Vice-Chancellor’s possible precautionary suspension or any limitation of his powers.
Prof Nthambeleni challenged this in court and on 13 May, Justice Tshidada granted an order declaring the 4 May meeting unlawful and invalid, setting aside all resolutions flowing from it, and declaring unlawful a series of meetings Mr Mushweu held with university stakeholders on 7 May without Council authority.
Council reconvened on 26 May, purporting to act afresh, and resolved to appoint an independent forensic investigator and initiate a process that could lead to the precautionary suspension of the VC and COO. A suspension notice followed on 27 May, giving the VC 24 hours to respond. He replied on 28 May, and the chairperson responded on 29 May.
The VC filed a fresh urgent application on 1 June seeking to interdict any final suspension decision, which was set down for hearing on 3 June.
Information about developments at the university is not easy to come by. The institution has issued no press releases and questions directed at UNIVEN’s communications department have largely gone unanswered.
In a response received last week, Dr Takalani Dzaga, Director: Marketing, Branding and Communication at UNIVEN, apologised for not being able to respond to media inquiries. “As an institution, we place a high premium on accuracy, fairness and transparency in our engagements with the media and the public, and we therefore wish to avoid providing information that has not been properly verified through the appropriate channels,” he said.
However, court papers filed in the High Court provide some indication of what is happening behind the scenes at the university.
UNIVEN not legally represented
LLS obtained a transcribed record of the court proceedings and included it in papers filed on Tuesday (9 June).
At the 3 June hearing, Mr Mushweu’s authority was directly challenged when the VC filed a notice in terms of Rule 7(4) of the Uniform Rules of Court, requiring Mvundlela & Associates to prove they had been duly authorised by Council to represent the university and Council in opposing the urgent application.
Counsel for the chairperson told the court that Council, at its 4 May meeting, had resolved to serve the VC with a precautionary suspension notice and to authorise the chairperson to appoint Mvundlela & Associates. The court stood the matter down and directed that the resolution be produced.
When proceedings resumed, Mvundlela & Associates produced the minutes of the 4 May Council meeting. The minutes, however, showed that neither resolution had in fact been taken on 4 May. The court found that the firm lacked the requisite authority to represent the university and excluded it from the proceedings.
The 13 May order was then granted with Council and the university unrepresented. The matter stood down until 9 June. It is not known what transpired at that hearing beyond the fact that the matter was postponed to 17 June.
Court asked to exclude Council members
Limpopo Legal Solutions, which filed papers on 9 June, describes itself as a non-profit civil society organisation that litigates in the public interest. Before approaching the court, it wrote a letter of demand to the university on 30 May, urging it to investigate the conduct of the chairperson and the three named Council members.
In his founding affidavit, the co-founder and Secretary General of LLS, Tsundzuka Kevin Maluleke, outlines steps taken by Mr Mushweu to appoint a legal firm to oppose the application by Prof Nthambeleni. He argues that Mushweu acted without prior Council authority and sought after-the-fact ratification of unilateral decisions.
LLS is asking the court to interdict Mr Mushweu from presiding over, chairing or participating in any Council or Convocation meetings pending the outcome of the investigation. The court is also asked to similarly interdict Council members Motadi, Sibiya and Ramovha.
LLS further asks the court to stop the university from paying legal fees to Mvundlela & Associates arising from the case, or paying sitting allowances for the 4 and 7 May Council meetings, pending a review application to be heard later.
In that review application, the court will be asked to declare unlawful and set aside Council’s conduct in convening further meetings without first holding the chairperson and three members accountable following the 13 May court order, as well as decisions taken without lawful delegation from a properly constituted Council.
LLS also asks that the Minister of Higher Education and Training intervene, although no order is sought against the Minister at this stage.