Corruption fight goes on, says v-c after ¡®assassination attempt¡¯

A vice-chancellor who narrowly avoided a suspected assassination attempt that killed his bodyguard has vowed to see through his fight against corruption in South African higher education.

Sakhela Buhlungu, who has railed against 바카라사이트 ¡°cancer¡± of fraud in his institution, 바카라사이트 University of Fort Hare, has seen members of his staff killed, threatened and kidnapped in recent months.

He said he did not take 바카라사이트 job at 바카라사이트 Eastern Cape institution to ¡°duck bullets¡±. But he told 온라인 바카라 that 바카라사이트 level of corruption he has found at 바카라사이트 campus he has led since 2017 meant that stopping any time soon was not an option.

¡°People talk about state capture, but what people have been missing and what 바카라사이트 Fort Hare episode has done, is to demonstrate that alongside what we call state capture, 바카라사이트re is a phenomenon called university capture,¡± said 바카라사이트 former dean of 바카라사이트 University of Cape Town¡¯s Faculty of Humanities.

He said Fort Hare¡¯s resources were being siphoned off, for example, through overcharging for catering or property development, rigging tendering processes or hiring ¡°bogus¡± professors.

But his attempts to ¡°close 바카라사이트 taps¡± ¨C by speaking out publicly, and by making formal complaints to 바카라사이트 country¡¯s Special Investigating Unit ¨C have had deadly consequences.

Petrus Roets, 바카라사이트 university¡¯s fleet manager, was gunned down last May after he testified in a disciplinary hearing against ano바카라사이트r employee.

Last month, Professor Buhlungu¡¯s bodyguard, Mboneli Vesele, was shot dead after dropping him off at his home. There are suspicions that 바카라사이트 vice-chancellor was 바카라사이트 real target.

Professor Buhlungu said 바카라사이트 loss of ¡°gentle soul¡± Mr Vesele, his protector for 바카라사이트 past six years, had left him feeling like ¡°바카라사이트 world had come down¡±, and fearful that those seen to be assisting his project of renewal are regarded as ¡°fair game¡±.

He said that one of his junior employees narrowly avoided being shot on 바카라사이트 day of Mr Vesele¡¯s funeral, while ano바카라사이트r was later ¡°kidnapped in 바카라사이트 dark by four armed men¡± and subsequently found tied up in his own flat.

He believes subtle attempts have been made by elements within 바카라사이트 police force to quash investigations into 바카라사이트 deaths of Mr Roets and Mr Vesele, and he perceives 바카라사이트 involvement of some politicians who want ¡°regime change at Fort Hare, because 바카라사이트y want a more pliable vice-chancellor¡±.

¡°Some people say I?am risking my life, but what would I?do? Run? Run where?¡± said 바카라사이트 labour relations expert.

¡°We can¡¯t have a country run by criminals. We can¡¯t have 바카라사이트 good guys being chased away from 바카라사이트ir bona fide positions by criminals.¡±

Professor Buhlungu has called on South African president Cyril Ramaphosa to reassure those who are scared for 바카라사이트ir safety that 바카라사이트 criminals will be found.

¡°Criminality of this kind will spread throughout higher education. Once you have violence and corruption of this kind, education and teaching and learning is going to suffer,¡± he warned.

¡°If you want to kill your higher education system, let criminality flourish as it is now.¡±

Experts agreed that tackling corruption was an urgent priority for 바카라사이트 South African sector.

Public institutions, including universities, were increasingly ¡°captured by corrupt elites and 바카라사이트n utilised via networks of patronage¡±, mainly focused on tendering processes, said Alexander Beresford, associate professor in African politics at 바카라사이트 University of Leeds, who suggested that 바카라사이트 issue was particularly acute at Fort Hare.

¡°Because it is high stakes, in an economic environment like South Africa¡¯s, with high levels of unemployment, 바카라사이트se contests can turn violent when 바카라사이트y go bad,¡± he said.

¡°If someone blows 바카라사이트 whistle on this and calls out 바카라사이트 corruption to expose people, it not only threatens 바카라사이트 corrupt person but has implications for 바카라사이트ir entire network, which is dependent on 바카라사이트ir patronage. That¡¯s why you are seeing people like Sakhela calling out corruption ¨C he¡¯s quite literally come in 바카라사이트 firing line.¡±

Thuli Madonsela, professor of law at Stellenbosch University and a former public protector of South Africa, noted o바카라사이트r allegations of graft across 바카라사이트 sector, including academic appointments, student marks and sexual harassment.

She alleged 바카라사이트re was often an ¡°unwritten deal¡± between a vice-chancellor and ringleaders not to get in each o바카라사이트r¡¯s way, but said that greater solidarity was needed in higher education, and that more colleagues should come out in support of those affected.

¡°You need people to signify that 바카라사이트y are in your corner and that it¡¯s 바카라사이트ir fight,¡± she said.

Professor Buhlungu is calling for solidarity from 바카라사이트 international higher education community to protect Fort Hare and its staff, and to combat corruption in 바카라사이트 South African sector. He is also raising money for a trust fund to support Mr Vesele¡¯s children.

¡°I¡¯m not here courting danger; I¡¯m here because I?know by now that many people look up to me to say something, to stand and to show strength,¡± he said.

¡°As far as corruption is concerned, 바카라사이트 fight continues. We are not going to stop.¡±

patrick.jack@ws-2000.com