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Eastern Cape Premier, Lubabalo Mabuyane, has announced plans to appeal a decision by the Senate of the University of Fort Hare to deregister him as a Master’s student.
This, after the news broke on Thursday that the University Senate had approved a Faculty of Management and Commerce recommendation to exclude and deregister him as a student, reportedly following a review conducted in respect of students who were supervised by one, Professor Edwin Ijeoma.
In a later statement, Mabuyane confirmed having received a letter from Fort Hare, which he said was the “first time that the University” had communicated with him on the matter.
The Eastern Cape Premier said he has requested that the university provide him with reasons for their decision which he said he would appeal, “including a possible judicial review if needs be.”
Mabuyane said the only communication he received from the University to date related to his studies, which he said included the “allocation of a new supervisor on the 2nd November 2020 and granting of an ethical clearance by the Interfaculty Research Ethics Committee on the 19th February 2021.”
The Premier also expressed “serious concerns and dissatisfaction” at the fact he was neither informed that there was a process of reviewing his enrolment at the university nor had been afforded an opportunity to make representations on a process that could have an “ adverse effect” on him.
Mabuyane said it was also worrying that a student could be excluded and deregistered from the university on the basis that their supervisor was under investigation.
"My understanding is that the admission of a student is done following extensive selection and admission processes and that no single individual in the university has the authority to admit students, and if that’s the case, it is cause for concern," he said.
