Wednesday, November 7, 2001

U. of South Africa Seeks to Gag Faculty Dissent Over Chairman's Actions By HENK ROSSOUW Pretoria, South Africa Faculty members at the University of South Africa (Unisa), Africa's largest distance-education university, have been warned not to speak to the news media about a conflict between the chairman of Unisa's council and South Africa's education minister over the institution's merger with two other distance-education providers. In a memorandum distributed last week, Unisa administrators said that professors who speak to reporters will face disciplinary action. The warning was issued after more than 600 Unisa academics signed a petition questioning actions by the council's chairman, Abram M. Motimele. Unisa is also considering disciplinary action against 11 academics who wrote an apology to the education minister, Kader Asmal. Mr. Asmal sought to block the appointment of a new vice chancellor at Unisa until it had merged with Vista University and Technikon South Africa. When Mr. Motimele appointed a new vice chancellor anyway, Mr. Asmal requested that the contract for the new position be limited to two and a half years, The appointment jeopardizes the forthcoming merger, Mr. Asmal said, because the other two institutions had not been consulted on the matter. But Mr. Motimele awarded a five-year contract to Unisa's new vice chancellor, Barney Pityana. In response, Mr. Asmal threatened to withdraw Unisa's annual subsidy of $47.5-million, 10 percent of which is due this week. He also ordered the government to investigate why Mr. Motimele received $27,600 last year for his duties as the head of the Unisa council when the board members at other universities in South Africa are unpaid. Mr. Motimele's standoff with Mr. Asmal began when the parliament voted to allow Mr. Asmal to dissolve Unisa's present council and create an interim body that would oversee the merger of the three institutions. The memorandum to the faculty from Unisa's administration stated that "direct and unauthorized communication with [the news media] -- all in the name of academic freedom -- has compromised the institution's image." A senior academic at Unisa, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, attributed the gag order to the university council's weakening grip on the institution's reins. South African newspapers have recently reported on an investigation into charges that Mr. Motimele profited illegally from a government program to supply overpriced wall charts to public schools. The media also reported on the resignation of a senior academic, Margaret Orr, from her position on Unisa's council after she accused Mr. Motimele of sexual harassment. Background article from The Chronicle: Defying the Government, South Africa's Largest Distance Provider Names a New Head (10/2/2001) Easy-to-print version E-mail this article

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