Lesufi’s facts about an alleged new ‘university’ completely wrong

25 September 2019

The photo Mr Panyaza Lesufi is spreading claiming that it is a photo of a new Solidarity university is factually wrong. The photo is of construction work for a new campus of a technical college. Sol-Tech.

“Sol-Tech is a technical college that has been registered 12 years ago. It is not a new university as Panyaza Lesufi has repeatedly claimed. The only person who claims that it is a university is Lesufi,” Dr Dirk Hermann, Solidarity COO said.

Lesufi again tweeted today that the department was waiting for the application for a new university. The least he could have done was to call us or visit our website.

According to Hermann an MEC who wages a Twitter war without getting the right facts is irresponsible and reckless. He does not allow facts to stand between him and his political rhetoric.

Unfortunately, the media in general has spread his wrong facts wider.

Sol-Tech is already one of South Africa’s top technical colleges. The college already trains 1 200 students and hundreds of skilled young people are being produced for the South African market every year.

Sol-Tech is now building a new campus to increase its capacity. Sol-Tech has complied with all the required statutory requirements for many years already and does not discriminate in any way on the basis of race.

“Sol-Tech was founded by ordinary Solidarity members who wanted to make sure their children received an excellent education. Factory workers, mine workers, people in professions and many more all contribute R10 per month to build Sol-Tech and to undertake other building projects.

“This is something that any community can do for themselves. We encourage all trade unions and community organisations to do the same. Solidarity will assist any community or organisation to do the same. The Constitution makes it possible for everyone.

“We invite Mr Lesufi to get involved in positive projects rather than use false information to cast suspicion on successful projects. South Africa needs many institutions such as Sol-Tech,” Hermann said.

Issued by Connie Mulder, Head: Solidarity Research Institute, 25 September 2019