Six senior managers have been placed on special leave at the Mangosuthu University of Technology
|||Durban - Six senior managers – including the vice-chancellor – have been placed on special leave at the Mangosuthu University of Technology amid allegations of financial mismanagement.
They were placed on special leave by the university council on Monday after complaints from within the university and by student leaders about the university’s financial affairs.
Vice-Chancellor, Professor Ratale Kgaphola, as well as an executive director; the chief financial officer; operations manager, HR manager and the Dean of Students – were placed on special leave.
The council is expected to appoint a forensic firm to investigate the allegations of financial mismanagement, failing to comply with university procedures as well as university policy in the appointment of service providers.
Speaking to the Daily News on Thursday, Judge Jerome Ngwenya, chairman of the university council, said they had received a number of complaints regarding “inadequate reporting of financial affairs”.
“We have been requesting information for a while from them after receiving complaints. Some of these questions not answered are about how the university appointed service providers, and how they are being paid,” he said.
“There is also the issue of the renting of accommodation that is not of the right quality, and procedures that are not being followed,” he said.
Ngwenya said the six were not suspended – but put on special leave to allow space for investigators to do their work.
The South African Students’ Congress (Sasco) branch of the university said it had dedicated the year to fighting corruption.
The Sasco deputy chairman, Sanele Zama, said they were firm in their stance against corruption and alleged the university had been overcharging students for accommodation for years.
“The Sasco-led SRC then instructed the university to return all loan agreements and reverse all overcharged funds to students with immediate effect,” he said.
He also said the SRC had, over the past years, been constantly fighting against exorbitant residence fees and had called for a transparent barometer to be used.
The student movement had also observed “millions of rands” that were spent “unnoticed and unchallenged” at the university for years.
“We see little that shows us how our money is being utilised and who uses our parents’ money. We call for accountability. We want to root out all forms of corruption,” said Zama.
Sasco welcomed the action taken against the executives and called for the investigators to probe the student affairs department, housing and other remaining officials.
Daily News
