Hawks corruption probe of Unisa senior managers is at the centre of efforts to silence acting CFO

3 May 2024 

The cooperation of Unisa’s acting CFO in a Hawks investigation into corruption at the institution has emerged as a possible motive for her suspension. As more details emerge of a carefully orchestrated conspiracy to silence Dr Reshma Mathura, AfriForum’s Private Prosecution Unit has appealed to Dr Blade Nzimande, Minister of Higher Education, Science and Technology, to intervene.

As Mathura’s legal representative, the Private Prosecution Unit has now been thoroughly briefed on her role in responding to a Section 205 (of the Criminal Procedure Act) subpoena the Hawks served on the institution early in February. Mathura was asked to gather details of five Unisa staff members as well as a company. This is one of at least two Hawks investigations into fraud and corruption related to tender rigging. 

Prof. Puleng LenkaBula, Vice-Chancellor of Unisa,  suspended Mathura on 19 April on several grounds, notably in response to a whistle-blower report sent to management a few weeks earlier and for sharing documents with outside parties. The Private Prosecution Unit has advised its client that the whistle-blower report and associated unsolicited deposits into her private bank account are part of a scheme to have her removed from her post.

The Private Prosecution Unit has addressed letters to LenkaBula and Dr Daniel Mosia, Chairperson of Unisa’s council. Mosia’s unsatisfactory response, sent by an attorney, prompted the approach to Nzimande. Mathura has also filed a complaint with the Hawks to investigate the unsolicited payments into her bank account. In a knee-jerk response, Unisa filed a criminal complaint against Mathura to investigate those same payments.

Adv. Gerrie Nel, head of the Private Prosecution Unit, says in a letter to Nzimande that the facts reveal that when presented with an anonymous email making baseless allegations against Mathura, Unisa’s management acted with lightning speed by suspending her and filing a criminal complaint under the pretences of standing firm against corruption. “Yet the same management, under Prof. LenkaBula, stands idle years after receiving consecutive forensic investigation reports conducted by reputable legal and auditing firms implicating numerous staff members, including senior managers, in corruption amounting to millions of rands.

These irreconcilable inconsistencies can only be explained if we accept Unisa’s management’s motive is to target Dr Mathura because of her dedication to identify and deal with malfeasance within Unisa’s ranks.

“Unisa’s management appears to be caught between a rock and a hard place. To act against those legitimately implicated in corruption would open the proverbial can of worms, as the implicated parties would point fingers at their enablers and co-accused who’ve not been identified in the reports; not acting against Dr Mathura would have a similar effect in that by fulfilling her duties as acting CFO, fingers would eventually be pointed at those same enablers and co-accused. The people acting irrationally and inconsistently suggests in both scenarios to whom those fingers will be pointed,” concludes Nel.

Issued by Barry Bateman, Communications Manager: Private Prosecution Unit, AfriForum, 3 May 2024