Siyabonga Mkhwanazi
The Vice-Chancellor of the University of Fort Hare, Prof. Sakhela Buhlungu, has indicated that they will oppose the application by Eastern Cape Premier Oscar Mabuyane to stop the investigation into fake degrees by the Special Investigating Unit (SIU).
Buhlungu said they have a legal responsibility to work with law enforcement agencies investigating corruption at the university.
Mabuyane filed an urgent application in the Bhisho High Court to stop the probe.
President Cyril Ramaphosa authorised the SIU to investigate the allegations of fake qualifications at Fort Hare.
Mabuyane and other politicians have been implicated in the fake degrees scandal.
But Buhlungu said they will not allow the work of the SIU to be stopped as it wanted to unearth the rot in the Department of Public Administration at Fort Hare.
“The Presidential proclamation on the SIU and the (University of Fort Hare) is no indictment of the university’s academic project and the standing of our qualifications. The accreditation and quality of (Fort Hare’s) programmes have always been and remain beyond reproach. Instead, the proclamation targets very specific irregular practices at the Bhisho campus involving the department of public administration,” said Buhlungu.
He said the internal and external investigations are being conducted to understand what has happened at Fort Hare in the past.
“For this reason, we reaffirm our responsibility and legal obligation to work with law enforcement agencies. The university has therefore taken a decision to oppose the application to thwart the SIU investigation, and will defend the matter in the High Court,” said Buhlungu.
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