3rd July due date for Minister Blade Nzimande to pronounce on Unisa’s governance

28 June 2023

The DA calls on Higher Education Minister, Dr Blade Nzimande, to appoint an administrator at Unisa after the institution’s suspended registrar, Prof Steward Mothata, made allegations that almost a third of assignments submitted by Unisa students in the first semester were not marked.

According to the Sunday Times, court papers filed by Prof Mothatha states that Unisa failed to mark 385 664 out of 919 986 submitted assignments and that almost 150 000 of 386 037, 2022-first year students failed half of their modules. 37 813 NSFAS bursary recipients failed to pass a single module.

These allegations must not be taken lightly, and questions need to be raised on the throughput rate of Unisa.

Should the allegations be found true, it would mean that some students wrote examinations without proper course marks or no marks at all, and that the Minister has no option but to suspend the council and urgently pave way for the appointment of an administrator.

No proper decisions can be taken by the Unisa council in its current state after resignations of council members.

Minister Nzimande have had ample time to apply his mind. The independent assessor’s (IA) report and Prof Mothata’s allegations have revealed that Unisa’s council is incapable to steer the institution in the right direction.

We expect the Minister to make his announcement to place Unisa under administration by Monday, 3 July 2023, as his requested two weeks to study the IA report will have then run its course. It's tme he makes his intentions known.

Issued by Chantel King, DA Shadow Minister of Higher Education, 28 June 2023