The Portfolio Committee on Higher Education and Training will undertake an oversight trip to all universities with an attempt to deal with tender fraud challenges that are threatening the post-school education sector.
The Chairperson of the committee, Ms Connie September, said it will be good to do oversight outside of Parliament. “We can also ask the institutions to explain to us a lot of different things. We have many institutions where boards get involved in management issues. They get to influence tenders,” she said.
The Department of Higher Education and Training on Wednesday came to brief on the new Sector Education and Training Authorities landscape, as well as the National Plan for Post-School Education and Training.
Minister Naledi Pandor led the strong delegation that included Deputy Minister Buti Manamela, as well as the Director-General Mr Gwebs Qonde. “The challenges in the main are about the tenders, and it is unending. To have this happening in institutions of higher learning is worrying and the committee needs to take it up. This is counter-revolutionary,” Mr Qonde said.
“This is destroying our system. We are appealing for your (committee’s) support. This thing is killing the system and has become a norm. At Setas they are at each other’s throats, it is about the material benefits,” he said.
He said many institutions are even budgeting for security of the vice-chancellors, “money which could be put to good use.”
Committee member, Prof Belinda Bozzoli, said the committee needed to respond to the challenges as highlighted. “Institutions are being destroyed by these challenges, they are now so deep and are headed by criminals. These are actions of criminals, death threats, forcing people for tenders and contracts, burning down buildings,” Prof Bozzoli said.
She said the committee needed to meet with the police to discuss how they will deal with these criminals.
Committee member, Mr Danny Kekana, concurred and said youth unemployment was a challenge in many campuses. “Social construction is kind of collapsing, so many youths, instead of being productive, are there in the township bound to be statistics. It is bound to backfire on us, the police are no longer coping,” he said.
Committee member, Ms Julia Killian, said the committee must never underestimate the extent of capture of institutions. “These practices have become common practice at institutions. These are committed by business people, not young students. This is looting on a grand scale and we can no longer ignore it,” she said.
Minister Pandor urged members to also look into racism that black academics are complaining about. “The committee should look into this, we continually get information about deans of faculties that treat young researchers very badly.”
Ms September said the committee was happy that the Minister has also committed herself to looking into the governance of many institutions. “We are unhappy with corruption at the institutions,” Ms September said.
By Sibongile Maputi
22 August 2018
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