'Why I was fired for upholding governance integrity at University of KwaZulu-Natal'

THE matter I bring forward is not a story of personal grievance, nor a labour dispute between employer and employee. It is the story of what happens when a senior leader in a public university is fired not for wrongdoing, but for doing his job, protecting governance integrity, enforcing due process, and insisting that policy and law apply equally to all.

I served as the Dean of Research at the University of KwaZulu-Natal. My role legally required me to uphold institutional policy, ensure compliance with higher education regulations, and protect the university from governance breaches. The real conflict began when I refused to endorse or participate in processes that violated university policy, the Higher Education Act, and basic principles of due process.

For performing the core duty of my office, defending lawful governance, I was removed. What makes this matter one of national public interest is that the very governance breaches I raised internally are now before the Parliamentary Portfolio Committee on Higher Education, which is formally probing them.

The fact that Parliament has taken up the matter demonstrates that my concerns were not unfounded, personal, or speculative, they were sufficiently serious to warrant national scrutiny. My dismissal was not an isolated employment incident. It was institutional retaliation against governance protection, a signal to others that ethical leadership is punishable, and due process is optional.

I was not dismissed for misconduct or incompetence. I was dismissed for refusing to enable misconduct. Universities are publicly funded institutions. When they punish leaders who defend lawful governance, the public loses, not just the employee. Protecting due process is not rebellion. It is the constitutional duty of every senior officer in a public institution.

The Parliamentary Portfolio Committee on Higher Education is now scrutinising the very issues I raised. Which means I was not “difficult”, I was early. If a Dean can be fired for insisting on policy compliance, the system is already broken. If a whistleblower must first be dismissed, and only later have their concerns reach Parliament, the law is not protecting truth, it is punishing it. And if retaliation against ethical leadership becomes normalised, the next governance crisis will not be accidental, it will be designed.I did not seek conflict. I stood for policy, law, and governance, and was dismissed for it.

Today, the very issues I tried to prevent from within are under scrutiny by the Parliamentary Portfolio Committee on Higher Education. This is not about a professor who lost a job. It is about a university that fired the one person doing theirs.

Professor Pholoho Morojele

Durban

SUNDAY TRIBUNE