Follow-up interaction with the University of KwaZulu-Natal on matters raised during the oversight visit

Video On 8 May 2026, the Portfolio Committee on Higher Education and Training held a follow-up engagement in Parliament with the University of KwaZulu-Natal (UKZN) on concerns raised during its 9 October 2025 oversight visit to the Westville campus. The meeting followed a protracted process after the October 2025 visit. UKZN missed the initial deadline for written responses, later submitted answers that contradicted earlier oral submissions, and then declined to respond directly to the Committee, citing a ministerial letter. The Committee rejected that stance, reaffirmed Parliament’s oversight powers under sections 55(2), 56, and 92(2) of the Constitution, and secured UKZN’s attendance at the follow-up meeting. The engagement was further weakened by the absence of two key stakeholders. The Institutional Forum (IF) declined to attend, saying nothing material had changed since its earlier appearance, while organised labour unions cited travel complications after an initial indication that UKZN would not fund their trip to Cape Town. Although the university later reversed that position, the unions chose to respond in writing. The Committee viewed both absences with concern and said it still expected a full account from labour. Against that backdrop, UKZN’s institutional presentation described a steep decline between 2010 and 2021, driven by unrest, corruption, the July 2021 violence, and the 2022 floods. By 2020, the university faced a R645 million deficit, R1.6 billion in student debt, unsustainable personnel costs, and major academic losses. UKZN said Project Renewal, running from 2021 to 2029, was intended to stabilise, restructure, and renew the institution. It also reported 2026 enrolment and funding figures, highlighted the unresolved Oval residence and incomplete 100-bed Westville residence, and placed legal expenditure at R59.4 million over five years across 55 active matters. The Student Representative Council’s (SRC) presentation shifted the focus to student experience, describing failures in registration, funding, accommodation, and governance. It said a new card-verification system blocked some students from examinations, forcing costly supplementary sittings; the registration fee jumped from R5 950 to R7 300; the National Student Financial Aid Scheme (NSFAS) failures left many students unable to register; and accommodation shortages remained severe. The SRC also raised a sexual assault case at an NSFAS-accredited private residence, challenged Rule 14 of the Student Rulebook as unconstitutional, and reported raising over R3.4 million to help 343 students register in 2026. The central dispute concerned the suspension and non-reinstatement of the substantive SRC Secretary-General. The Committee established that on 29 March 2026, the Manager of Student Governance terminated his SRC membership on the basis that he had no first-semester modules, even though the university’s own handbook defined a student as a person registered in any semester of the academic year. After the High Court orally set aside that decision, UKZN said it would wait for the transcript before deciding whether to appeal. The Committee rejected that position as legally unsustainable, questioned inconsistencies in the university’s timeline, and concluded that the university appeared to be delaying reinstatement. It requested the legal opinion in writing and indicated that contempt proceedings and personal cost consequences could follow. This fed into broader concerns about legal spending and accountability. The Committee said the university had not adequately explained R59.4 million in legal expenditure over five years and would be required to provide a full breakdown by firm, matter, court level, outcome, and cost. Members also questioned the concentration of work in certain firms, the cost of routine notices to abide, and the use of senior counsel in matters they viewed as straightforward, while debating whether reckless decisions that wasted public funds should attract personal liability. Student welfare concerns were sharpened by the reported sexual assault of a student at an NSFAS-accredited private residence. The Committee criticised both the residence arrangement and the university’s response, noting that the student remained at the property and had reportedly attempted suicide twice. It called for criminal charges, revocation of the property’s accreditation, and proper psychosocial support, stressing that universities have a duty of care toward students. The Committee also strongly criticised the 23% increase in the registration fee, from R5 950 to R7 300, as part of a plan to reach R10 000 by 2028. It argued that the increase, together with the requirement to settle 50% of outstanding debt before registration, was anti-progressive and placed access beyond the reach of many students in an institution where most come from poor households. UKZN defended the decision on benchmarking and cash-flow grounds, but the Committee found that explanation insufficiently student-centred. Related concerns arose around Rule 14 of the Student Rulebook, which allowed a student to be suspended before a disciplinary process was concluded. The Committee described the rule as constitutionally suspect and inconsistent with fair-hearing rights, while the Department acknowledged the need to align institutional statutes with the Constitution as part of the forthcoming Higher Education Bill. The Committee said it was prepared to support legal action to challenge the rule. The Committee also raised governance concerns about the appointment of a former SRC Secretary-General to a university post without any identified advertisement or expression of interest. The Human Resources (HR) Executive confirmed that such an appointment would be irregular and undertook to submit a full report. Further concerns were raised about contractors linked to multiple companies receiving repeated work despite abandoned projects, as well as the university’s employment of foreign nationals, on which the Committee requested a detailed breakdown. Finally, the Committee returned to the failed student card verification system used during the November 2025 examinations, arguing that students should not bear the cost of an institutional breakdown. It requested a full report from UKZN and the SRC on what happened and what remedies would be provided. Resolutions The Committee resolved to issue the university with a template for a comprehensive legal expenditure report, setting out each matter by firm, court level, outcome, and cost at each stage, to be completed and returned within the period to be specified in the template. The university undertook to provide the Committee within 48 hours with the legal opinion on which it had relied in declining to implement the High Court order pending receipt of the written transcript. UKZN undertook to provide the Committee, within seven days, with a written report on the appointment of the individual to the post of Situational Awareness Coordinator, covering the appointment process, the responsible official, evidence of any advertisement or expression of interest, and copies of any applications received. The university undertook to provide the Committee with a written response on the matter of the Lovemore Khumalo appointment, having acknowledged that the written submissions prepared for the meeting had not addressed it. The Committee confirmed it would provide the university with adequate time to respond properly given that the matter had not been included in the pre-meeting request for information. The university undertook to investigate and report back on the specifics of the student card examination access incidents from November 2025, including what had happened and what recourse mechanisms would be put in place, following engagement with the SRC. The Vice-Chancellor (VC) undertook to urgently engage with the matter of the SRC Secretary-General's reinstatement and to do so without prejudice to either candidate, with a view to resolving the matter expeditiously. The VC also undertook to personally engage with the matter of the student who had been sexually assaulted at the NSFAS-accredited residence following the Committee's flagging of the matter during the meeting. The Committee indicated it would seek a report from KPMG, as the university's external auditor, during the annual report engagement, to establish how legal and appointment irregularities of the nature discussed had not been identified through the audit process. UKZN undertook to provide the Committee with a written report on the forensic investigation into the leaked examination paper at the Edgewood campus, the recommendations arising from that investigation, and the status of consequence management.