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The Special Investigating Unit (SIU) is continuing its investigation of Eastern Cape premier Oscar Mabuyane’s allegedly fraudulent master’s degree despite a court ruling in his favour on Thursday.
The unit said the high court judgment, which declared Mabuyane’s de-registration from the University of Fort Hare unlawful, will not have an impact on its probe of his university admission.
SIU spokesperson Selby Makgatho said the unit was working towards finalising its report into Mabuyane’s alleged academic and qualification fraud related to his university enrolment and being awarded a master’s degree in public administration.
“We will not comment on [the judgment]... we are working on finalising the report on the proclamation,” said Makgatho.
On Thursday, the Eastern Cape High Court sitting in KuGompo City declared Mabuyane’s deregistration by the university unlawful and constitutionally invalid and set it aside. It said the university failed to follow a fair process before striking him from its register in 2021.
Judge Lindiwe Rusi set aside the university senate’s decision to deregister Mabuyane from his master’s degree programme and ordered the university to restart the process of reviewing his admission in accordance with its own rules.
The university, Rusi said, must reconsider evidence of Mabuyane’s prior learning and experience before deciding whether he qualified for admission.
It was also ordered to pay the costs of the application, including the cost of two counsels.
Central to Rusi’s ruling was her finding that Mabuyane had not been given an opportunity to make representations before the decision was taken to deregister him.
The deregistration of [Mabuyane] was...unlawful...[and] irrational and unreasonable.
— Judge Lindiwe Rusi
“An ineluctable finding is that the deregistration of the applicant was unlawful for failure to afford him an opportunity to make representations before the decision was made, and on account of being irrational and unreasonable,” Rusi said.
The judgment also contains a sharp criticism of the university’s handling of the matter and points to broader administrative failures within its department of public administration.
Rusi referred to admissions made by Fort Hare vice-chancellor Prof Sakhela Buhlungu during a senate meeting after Mabuyane’s deregistration, in which he acknowledged that serious administrative failures had affected the department.
She said those admissions supported Mabuyane’s claim that he had not acted improperly.
“On the admission of professor Buhlungu, the applicant was one of the victims of the maladministration together with many other students whose reputation and careers were adversely affected,” Rusi said.
The judge said it would be unfair for students to bear the consequences of administrative failures where there was no evidence that they had acted improperly or in collusion with university officials.
She said the consequences extended beyond Mabuyane’s case, particularly for students from disadvantaged backgrounds whose studies and employment prospects had been delayed because of uncertainty surrounding qualifications issued by the university.
Rusi stressed that Mabuyane’s public office did not place him above the law.
“This matter concerns Mr Mabuyane in his capacity not as premier of the province but as the student of the university who is bound by its laws in the same way as any other student.”
She said if there had been evidence of wrongdoing on his part, he should have been held accountable.
However, in the absence of such evidence, his rights could not be sacrificed.
Rusi also found that the review before the court was not concerned with whether Mabuyane ultimately met the requirements for recognition of prior learning but with whether the university had followed the correct process in considering his admission.
She concluded that the appropriate remedy was for the university to restart the review process in a procedurally fair manner while protecting both Mabuyane’s rights and the integrity of the university’s academic qualifications.
Mabuyane welcomed the ruling.
“From the beginning, I believed that this issue should be dealt with through the appropriate channels and not through public debate or speculation,” he said.
“This has been a challenging and personal journey, but I have always had faith in the legal process and in the importance of fairness and due process.”
Mabuyane described Fort Hare as an institution that had shaped his life and career.
“My relationship with Fort Hare goes beyond this case. It is an institution that gave me an education, broadened my horizons and helped shape the person I am today.”
University spokesperson JP Roodt said the institution was studying the judgment before deciding on its next course of action. — Daily Dispatch
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