WSU COUNCIL CHAIRPERSON AND SRC UNITE ON STRONG ANTI-CORRUPTION DEMANDS IN PARLIAMENT

Walter Sisulu University (WSU) Council Chair Prof Tembeka Ngukaitobi has cautioned the institution to confront corruption decisively and protect the integrity of its academic environment.

Ngcukaitobi said this after the university appeared before the Portfolio Committee on Higher Education in the National Assembly in Cape Town on 19 November 2025.

WSU has already launched the Cultivate Honesty and Integrity campaign, encouraging the community to report any incidents of fraud, theft, corruption, misconduct or bribery to KPMG FairCall – 0800 212 582. All calls are confidential.

Ngcukaitobi stressed that areas identified by Parliament and the SRC, particularly housing and security are no longer issues the University can afford to overlook.

His reflections extended beyond policy as he spoke openly about the responsibility that comes with representing WSU in national spaces.

“If I am in Parliament, it is a national platform. I am carrying the blazer of WSU,” he said.

“What do I want them to think, not of me but of WSU? We must present WSU as a place of creativity, intellectual thought, robustness and academic achievement,” he said.

He said disagreements must be resolved at WSU, not staged in national forums, because national platforms demand unity of purpose.

Adding to the reflection, ISRC President Mvelo Abente backed the chairperson’s stance.

He said corruption is not concentrated at senior levels but within operational processes that directly frustrate and disadvantage students.

“The problem is not at the top, I t is below, where people abuse processes and make life difficult for students.” He said and adding that students felt the impact most acutely in-residence allocation, administration delays and poor service delivery.

Abente also raised the urgent need to reform the NSFAS operational model. He argued that the direct dealings between NSFAS and external service providers have created space for irregularities.

“NSFAS should only issue funding, and the institution must handle residence allocation, accreditation and compliance. Outsourced service providers are causing problems and delaying student progress,” he said.

His remarks reinforced WSU’s call for structural change in higher education funding systems.

Ngcukaitobi supported this view in Parliament, saying the NSFAS model and the funding formula remain major obstacles for historically disadvantaged institutions like WSU.

“I wanted to outline the areas of policy that, if changed, could benefit WSU – the NSFAS model and the funding formula,” he said.

He welcomed the Committee’s commitment to pursue the matter, adding that WSU’s contribution had “left them with an important national task.”

In reflecting on the deeper meaning of WSU’s academic identity, Prof Ngcukaitobi said the institution must draw strength from its intellectual roots.

“We are a group of Africans, Black people, solving our problems without external assistance, I have pride because I have been produced by people who speak like me and look like me. The source of knowledge can also be Black and African,” he said.

As WSU reflects on its time in Parliament, the message delivered by Prof Ngcukaitobi and reinforced by the SRC stands clear: corruption will be fought, vulnerable systems must be reformed, and WSU must continue to shape national conversations with integrity and purpose.

By: Yolanda Palezweni