Parly's higher education committee chair says University of Fort Hare protests could have been avoided

Chairperson of Parliament's Higher Education Committee, Tebogo Letsie, says the recent protests at the University of Fort Hare could have been avoided.

He has slammed the university council for not consulting widely enough on governance matters such as the extension of the Vice-Chancellor's contract, which in part sparked the protests.

At a briefing in Parliament on Monday, Letsie said while he does not condone the extensive damage caused by protests earlier this month, the university council must shoulder some of the blame.

Following an oversight visit of the committee last week, Letsie said the university must take responsibility for the delay in calling elections of the Student Representative Council and appointing an interim body that angered students.

Letsie said the committee is also not satisfied with the explanations it received to extend the contract of Sakhela Buhlungu as VC beyond retirement age and said an independent legal opinion must be sought.

"We don't think these people have executed their duties well as council and management, and therefore we’ve asked the minister to consider appointing an independent assessor."

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Letsie said the university council must also take responsibility for the protest, in which academic records have also been lost.

"Somebody must be held accountable. You can't lose infrastructure of R300 million based on, in our view, the decisions you’ve taken or not taken."

He said students' safety concerns are valid, and the committee’s oversight visit has revealed that the university is not adequately secured.

Last week, Deputy Minister of Higher Education Mimmy Gondwe told Parliament it was premature to recommend that the university be placed under administration