Unisa has rubbished claims that it had honoured Chief Justice Raymond Zondo and his deputy, Justice Mandisa Maya with a secret agenda to “capture” them due to the many legal matters against the university pending before the courts.
Last month, Zondo and Maya were given honorary doctorates for their contribution to the legal field.
The letter said to be from concerned students and workers to Deputy Judge President of the Gauteng Division of the High Court, Justice Aubrey Ledwaba seemed to suggest that (Higher Education) Minister Blade Nzimande’s executive authority had been impeded by the justice system which had stalled the matter between him and Unisa even though it should have been prioritised.
However, this week, Unisa said contrary to “misleading” media reports, the pair had the awards bestowed on them in their individual and private capacities and in recognition of their respective contributions in the legal profession in the country and the continent over their many years of practice.
“Unisa has noted with concern recent reports on two media platforms (The Star/Pretoria News, October 11 and The Daily Maverick, October 13).
“These newspapers intentionally misrepresented the correct facts regarding the awarding of honorary doctorates to Chief Justice Raymond Zondo and Deputy Chief Justice Mandisa Maya.
“The awarding of honorary doctorates by the university to the two justices is a separate matter from the pending litigation between the university and the Minister of Higher Education, Science and Innovation,“ Unisa said on Monday.
Unisa indicated that it was wrong and inappropriate of the publications to base their reports on a petition attributed to Unisa staff members and students.
“The articles are premised on a so-called petition to the Deputy Judge President of the Gauteng Division of the High Court, Justice Aubrey Ledwaba; and purport to be from aggrieved Unisa staff members and students.
“In the body of the petition itself, the authors advance the point that Council and Executive Management, in pursuing the legal action against the minister, are advancing their own personal interests and not those of university staff and students. Interestingly, nothing in the petition itself provides any proof that the petition itself has indeed been authored and signed by bona fide staff members and students of the university. There is also no evidence that the authors of the petition genuinely represent the views of all the staff members and students of the university or a majority of them; or when, how and on what basis they obtained the mandate to speak on their behalf,” it said.
Two weeks ago, the minister’s bid to place Unisa under administration and appoint an administrator to oversee the process of renewal of the embattled institution, suffered a legal blow after Unisa council and VC Professor Puleng LenkaBula succeeded in interdicting Nzimande.
Unisa said the current litigation between itself and the minister had nothing to do with the recent gesture towards the two jurists, adding that the said letter was fake.
“It appears at best to be a petition by faceless (or even fake) people masquerading as Unisa staff and students, who are just on a frolic of their own; and who are advancing their own petty, narrow and factional interests, working with their embedded and ‘hired guns’ in the media.
“The articles arising out of this petition, written by two journalists notorious for their hostile stance against the university and with no ethical bone in their bodies, are nothing but a classical example of gutter journalism, whose aim is clearly to exert pressure on the courts to act in a manner aligned only with their own interests,” Unisa said.