UFH is under administration
Eastern Cape April 26, 2019 News desk
The Minister of Higher Education and Training, Dr Naledi Pandor, has appointed, with immediate effect, a respected scientist and former Vice Chancellor of Wits, Professor Loyiso Nongxa as the Administrator of the University of Fort Hare (UFH).
The decision to appoint him follows a range of damning reports in the media, as well as the purported collapse of the Council at the University of Fort Hare.
Minister Pandor said she has taken the decision to intervene directly to ensure both good governance and that an environment conducive to teaching, learning, and research prevails at the University.
Professor Nongxa is appointed to take over the governance of the University of Fort Hare for one year, effective immediately.
The appointment of an Administrator means that the Council is dissolved from the date of appointment.
Minister Pandor said Professor Loyiso Nongxa has agreed to take on this critical role, and she was grateful to him for agreeing to take on such responsibility.
“I am confident that he will carry out the task assigned to him with the utmost integrity and commitment. I hope that he will receive the unqualified support of all members of the University of Fort Hare community, and be given the space to undertake this important responsibility, which will be to restore the effective governance of the institution,” Minister Pandor said.
The Vice-Chancellor, Professor Sakhela Buhlungu, remains in office.
The University of Fort Hare is rightly the focus of public concern given its important status in the history of our country, its considerable contribution to the intellectual life of South Africa, and the role that it plays in our public higher education system in one of our poorest provinces.
Minister Pandor said she will do everything to support the University to ensure that it functions optimally.